Star Trek: Wildstar
by MattSaotome
Summary: Captain Ranma Saotome of the Starship Wildstar, and his crew of rivals, fiance's and hotheads, rescue the CinC of Starfleet Command, only to find themselves pursued by a Section 31 Dreadnought! Ranma DBZ Sailor Moon 'Whatever else pops up' xover! Ran x Ak
1. Prologue

HAHAH! Ok, I can't believe I started writing this, but what the hell! HAHAH! Give this a read, and tell me what you think! Introducing, a cross between Ranma 1/2, Dragonball Z and... and Star Trek! HAHAH!

sniffles No, but seriously, let me know if you like it!

MattSaotome

* * *

Prologue

Ranma stood at the observation windows of the starbase, looking into the ship hangar with some small amount of disgust. Sure. The damned ship was big. So what?! He still wasn't very impressed.

"Well?" Genma walked up behind him in an admiral's uniform and placed his hand on his son's shoulder. Ranma himself was dressed in a Captain's uniform.

"Well what?" Ranma muttered, his arms crossed as he continued to stare out the window.

"Well what do you think of her?"

Ranma sighed and lowered his head for a moment, then brought it back up.

"Let's see," Ranma mused sarcastically. "It has a body on the drive section that looks like you robbed it off an ambassador class ship and the deflector to match. The neck going up to the saucer looks like it's from a galaxy class. The saucer looks like a round version of the ones on a sovereign class, and the engines and their mounts look sovereign class as well, even if there are four of them."

Genma's snarl had gotten bigger with every comparison. His hand lifted from Ranma's shoulder to slap him in the back of the head.

"Foolish Boy!" He growled. "The design teams for this ship are at the top of Starfleet! She's almost a full hundred meters longer than the Sovereign class! If I was trying to teach you a lesson, do you think I would hand you a hybrid built from scraps?!?"

Ranma cocked his head and turned it a little to eye his father. "Yes."

Genma almost started crying. "Oh, My son! Can't you just give in and apologize? If you do, you won't have to go through with this!"

Ranma sighed again. "Too late, Pops. I'm doing it. I'm gonna prove you wrong."

FLASHBACK

"Ranma, My boy," Genma snarled at his son across his desk in his office. "You have no idea what you're talking about."

"Give it up, Pops!" Ranma hollered back at him. "You can use whatever excuse you want, but the truth of the matter is that Starfleet is for no brainer's. You're sitting behind a desk so you don't have to face the music of the rest of the world."

"Oh is that what you think?!" Genma snapped. "For no brainer's, eh? Alright then, son. Here's a no brainer for you! In nine months, the latest addition to the fleet will be completed. You're going to be her captain!"

Ranma blinked and his jaw dropped. "CAPTAIN?! I only just got my Commander Pips! I haven't even been an executive officer for five hours! I've only been enrolled for four years, you old fool!!"

Genma chuckled now, pleased with himself. "Oh, don't worry, boy! I'm enlisting you into the intensive training program starting tomorrow. You'll get to find out firsthand just how much of a 'No Brainer' it is to be in Starfleet! Oh, and to make things even better… I get to pick your crew!"

"Suck on it, Oyaji! I'm not doing it!"

Genma lifted his hands from the keyboard where he'd been typing. "Too late. I've already enlisted you."

"YOU WHAT??!"

Genma nodded with a smile. "Yep! And if you don't show up for the intensive training program after being enlisted in it, you get court martialed."

Ranma lunged across the desk, wrapping his hands around his father's neck. "THAT'S NOT FAIR!!!"

Between choked breaths, Genma managed to croak out, "Fair or not… it's done…"

END FLASHBACK

"So do I get to know who any of my staff are?" Ranma muttered. Genma simply shook his head.

"No, my boy. I'm afraid you'll just have to wait and find out."

Ranma looked at him. "Well I know that I've got at least two experienced people on board. If you're any kind of a father, you wouldn't send me out without someone to show me the ropes a little."

Genma snickered. His son wasn't stupid, that was for sure. "Very well, I'll tell you who they are."

Ranma turned to face Genma and listen, his arms still crossed. "Go on."

"Your first officer is a man named Goku. He has served with Starfleet for nine years now. He holds the rank of Commander, and has been an executive officer on the U.S.S. Saratoga up until now. He's already on board, making sure that everything is ready for when his captain arrives. He's not an idiot, so listen to his advice. The second one, your chief engineer, is a man named Vegeta. He's the other extreme. He's irritable and volatile, but he's served just as long as Goku has and also holds the rank of commander. Don't rush him. He'll kill someone. Just trust in him. He always gets the job done. Once again, he's not an idiot either."

Ranma was intrigued with the description of Vegeta, and thought of Goku as someone that he might get close to over the next while.

"Also," Genma continued. "You should know that both of them are Saiyans."

Ranma's face melted into an annoying stare as his eyes bored into his father's head.

"Saiyans. Awww… C'mon, pops. Have a little mercy here, would ya?"

Genma closed his eyes and shook his head from side to side. "Nope. You're getting thrown right into the thick of it, Ranma. Now get over there. I'll be sending you your first mission orders in five hours but your launch will take place first."

The bridge was a bustle of activity. The worker lights were still active, bathing almost every corner in white light. People were talking loudly back and forth, making the final preparations to the controls before launch. In the middle of the controlled chaos sat a man in the captain's chair. He was pouring over the readout console on the arm, a slightly confused look crossing his face every now and then. His black hair was strewn in different directions, and he sported no facial hair save for his eyebrows. Three pips lined the right collar of his uniform shirt. As the bustle continued around him, the turbo lift doors whooshed open. Never one to be deaf, the man turned in the chair and stood. A smile crossed his face that slowly became a half grin as he looked at the man who walked onto the bridge. His uniform collar sported four pips. This was the man he'd been waiting for.

"Captain on the bridge!" The man called out, and all the workers fell silent and stood at attention.

Ranma slowly moved forward, step by step. The bridge around him looked something similar to a Sovereign class command center, but he could already see several major differences. For the most part, he had to say, he liked it.

The man with three pips walked towards Ranma and held out his hand.

"Captain Saotome!" The man was beaming as he shook Ranma's hand, almost cheerfully. "I've been looking forward to meeting you. My name is Goku. I'll be your first officer on board the Wildstar."

Wildstar, huh? He hadn't even heard the name of the ship up until now.

"Well, Commander," Ranma replied, turning his eyes to stare in confusion at a man on an anti-grav pad shoved half way through a hatch in the roof above the science center. "Let's chat. In the Ready Room?"

Goku motioned in the direction of the front left hand side of the bridge, and Ranma headed for the only doors he saw there that were not tagged with a turbo lift colored tag. The two walked into the room, and the bridge instantly became noisy again as the workers went back to what they were doing.

The ready room was cozy. The desk, curved in shape, was positioned in front of and slightly to the left of the window. There was a couch and two chairs against the wall across from the desk, and he could see the entry way to the lavatory. Over in the wall to the right of the desk was the replicator. Ranma made a beeline for this as Goku came in behind him and moved to sit on the couch.

"Tea. Earl Grey. Hot." Ranma spoke quickly to the replicator. It chirped a couple of times, and a cup of steaming liquid appeared. Ranma picked it up and took a sip. His face immediately melted into satisfaction, and Goku couldn't help but grin.

"I'll remember that!" Goku chuckled. Ranma, in the middle of taking another sip of the delicious tea, looked up in Goku's direction.

"Hmm?" he questioned, swallowing another mouthful of the soothing beverage.

"Well," Goku explained. "I make it a point to find out what can improve my captain's mood if the need arises. I've only just met you, and I already know!"

Ranma laughed a bit. "Commander, I want to start out by telling you a few things. The first is this. My collar may have four pips on it, but under the red shirt is a green student. I've only held this rank for a week now. Before that, I had a grand total of nine months under my belt with the rank of Commander. My father, Admiral Saotome, placed me into the intensive training program at Starfleet headquarters. I didn't even serve a tour of duty on a starship as a first officer before getting handed this assignment."

Goku's eyes had grown to twice their size. "Wow… What a responsibility to have suddenly shoved at you… You definitely have my full support, sir!"

Ranma winced a bit at the sir.

"Next is that 'sir' thing." Ranma continued. "I still consider myself to be only as educated as you, and not even half as experienced. I can handle you calling me captain on the bridge and all that, but if it's just you and me, I'd prefer to be on… less formal terms."

Goku blinked a couple of times.

Ranma looked at him in silence for a few seconds before blurting out. "Call me Ranma."

"Ah!" Goku smiled again. "I can do that."

Ranma nodded once. Then he looked down to his tea and sighed. Taking a huge gulp, he looked back at the replicator.

"Computer, water. Five degrees Celsius." The computer chirped a couple more times and the water materialized.

Ranma picked the glass out of the replicator and held it just in front of himself with his free hand.

"The other thing that I want is a total honesty policy between us. No matter what, I always want you to know everything possible about me and what I am doing. I expect the same in return. The first thing that is most important for you to know about me is this."

Ranma brought the glass up over his head and tipped it upside down, an action that made Goku raise an eyebrow. Then Goku's expression melted into shock as the water changed Ranma's hair color from black to red. He watched Ranma shrink a good half a foot in height, and was even more amazed when his chest grew breasts and he gained some wicked sexy hips. It was soon quite obvious to Goku that Ranma was a woman.

"Uhh…" Goku just stared at Ranma, blinking.

"Yeah," Ranma said as she put the glass down on the desk behind her. "That's what they all say."

"You… kinda switched genders on me there, Captain."

Ranma nodded. "It's part of a curse that I have. Whenever I get splashed with cold water, I turn into a girl. The only thing that turns me back is hot water. This happened to me about five years ago. I've learned to live with it."

Goku stood up from the couch and walked over to the replicator.

"Computer," he said. "Water. 30 degrees Celsius." A glass of water appeared. Goku stuck his finger into it for a second, nodded and pulled the glass from the replicator. Stepping up to Ranma, who had her eyes half closed in annoyed expectance, Goku tipped the glass of warm water over her head. Sure enough, her hair dissolved back to black, and Ranma grew a half foot taller as her chest shrunk and her sexy hips vanished.

"Thanks," Ranma said sarcastically.

"Wow!" Goku was truly amazed. "Well, in the interests of total honesty…"

Goku took a step back from the captain. He held his arms up a bit as his hands made fists, and he held them close to his body. "Watch this!"

He made a quick growling noise, and the ready room gave a little tremble. With a holler, Goku's hair bleached golden blonde as it shot up on end. His muscles grew almost twice their size, and he was surrounded by a radiating golden battle aura.

Ranma dropped his teacup. "…You win."

"You stupid idiot!" He yelled at the nameless Lieutenant. "I told you to check the balanced outputs BEFORE you polarized the matrix!! Get back over there and FIX IT!!!"

He made a fist and growled under his breath as he turned back to the station he was standing at and slapped the console in frustration.

"Engineering to Bridge!" His teeth were grit, and his patience was wearing thin. He knew that he only had five hours until the ship needed to launch, but if his team kept slipping up on the basics, he'd have to shove them all out the nearest airlock and request replacements from Starfleet command.

"Go ahead, Vegeta." Goku's voice chirped back over the com system.

"Listen, Kakarot," Vegeta calmed a bit as he counted to ten a few thousand times in his head. "Tell the maintenance crews up there not to activate the bridge emergency transporter matrix for another hour yet. My brilliant team of morons down here just fried the balanced outputs!"

There was a chuckle from the com. "Alrighty then! I'll let them know."

Vegeta snarled. He failed to see what was so damned funny about the amount of screw ups that were happening right before launch.

"By the way," The com continued. "The Captain's on board now. He wants to see you as soon as possible."

Vegeta's face went a little red. "Didn't you hear me, Kakarot?!! I've got a bunch of amateurs down here screwing up my engine room! I don't have time to go up and see him!!"

A new voice came over the com system. "Then I'll come to you, Commander. Sit tight."

He was momentarily stunned before putting two and two together that the new voice on the com must have been his captain. "Shit…" he muttered under his breath. He drew in a large amount of air and huffed it back out, calming his boiling blood as much as possible before replying with a simple "Alright, Captain."

He pushed the com button again and turned back to face the engineering crew.

"Listen up, you restless pack of ingrates!" He shouted. Everyone instantly shut up and ran to crowd near Vegeta, just a little fear showing on almost all their faces. Except for his second. Dana Jorgensen. Vegeta had to let a little smile twitch at the corner of his mouth as he looked over at her. She returned the favor. There was respect there for sure. She had never taken any bull from him, and he had quickly learned not to under-estimate her. While they often hollered in each other's faces when they argued, it was her guts to do so alone that made Vegeta hand pick her as his assistant chief engineer. She had the brains for the job as well, but in his mind he had told himself that even a person with smarts could be dumber than a stick.

Dana was definitely not that.

"The captain will be here in a few moments," Vegeta's raspy growl informed them. "I have read his service record, and I know that he went through the most rigorous training that Starfleet has to offer in order to get this ship.

So I don't want to hand him a scrap heap!! UNDERSTOOD???"

Everyone's arms snapped to their sides. "YES SIR!!" Engineering echoed with their cry of acknowledgement, and Vegeta grinned.

"Excellent. Now I'm sure that, after going through the training he did, the Captain may very well be more strict that I."

Several gulping sounds were heard around the room.

"So I expect you all, as of right this instant, to operate at your peak efficiency. No More Screw Ups!! When the Captain walks through those doors, I want him to see the best damned engineering team in all of Starfleet!! ARE YOU THAT TEAM??"

"YES SIR!!!" Everyone's faces suddenly beamed.

"Alright then." Vegeta nodded once with approval. "Commander Jorgensen and I will be monitoring your progress very closely over the next five hours. Make sure that when the Captain calls from the bridge to go to warp, his tea cup won't even shudder. I don't want him to even feel the hum of the plasma injectors at the bridge. Now BACK TO WORK!!"

"YES SIR!!!"

The turbo lift doors whooshed open, and Ranma stepped inside. He took a breath as he reveled in the silence that followed when the doors shut behind him, closing off the noisy techno babble from the bridge.

"Engineering." He said. The lift beeped and began to move down. He closed his eyes for a moment and tried to picture Vegeta in his head. The snarling evil man that appeared in his mind made Ranma snap his eyes back open.

_God, I hope not!_ He thought. The lift slowed and came to a stop. The readout showed that he was on deck twelve. Another quick study of the display showed that transporter room two was on that deck. The doors opened.

The man on the other side of the doors looked into the lift. He snapped to attention immediately.

"Captain." The man said. He was about a foot and a half shorter than Ranma, but his build would impress the most sinister of men.

"At ease," Ranma said. The man relaxed and walked into the turbo lift. Ranma looked him over quickly out of the corner of his eye as the lift resumed towards engineering. He had short dark blonde hair, and no beard or moustache. He was wearing a tight black t-shirt and camouflage army pants. At his side was a type II phaser.

Security? Nah! He'd be in uniform. He was wearing a com badge, and Ranma noted the three pips he'd placed in a row just below his right shoulder. He decided to talk.

"What's your name, Commander?"

"Steven, sir. Steven Stoltz. Computer, battle ops."

_Beep-beep_

"Well, Commander Stoltz. You look a bit out of uniform."

"Yes sir," Steven acknowledged. "The nature of my duties makes the uniform optional."

Ranma frowned a bit, confused. "And what are your duties?"

"My Starfleet commission is active, but I am also the leader of the Wildcards, the Special Forces unit assigned to the Wildstar."

Ranma almost groaned. Military?! His Pops had to be joking.

"I see. How long is your team's tour on board?"

"The duration of the Wildstar's mission, Captain."

Ranma nodded. "Very well then. I'll be calling a meeting of the senior staff in about five hours for mission briefing. Bring your department heads with you."

"Aye, sir."

The lift slowed to a stop on the engineering deck, and Ranma stepped out. He turned back to Steven before the doors closed. "Good to meet you, Commander."

Steven nodded as the doors shut, and Ranma turned to walk towards main engineering.

Vegeta nodded slowly as he looked over the padd that one of the engineers handed him. He passed it back with approval and stepped over to the intermix controls where Dana was busily plugging away at ratios and mathematical equations. He crossed his arms as he turned and leaned against the console.

"They're doing much better now." He said, nodding approval as he looked around his fine tuned engineering crew.

Dana grinned. "Probably because you put the fear of God into them that the captain might actually castrate those that slacked off!"

Vegeta laughed openly. "Yes, I guess I did that, didn't I?!"

Vegeta's line of vision was focused on the entrance to main engineering. He could feel someone approaching the doors, and he was semi-surprised when he felt himself gulp in anticipation.

Dana looked up at him with a bit of shock. "Are you nervous?!"

Vegeta looked down at her. "Don't be foolish. Of course I'm not nervous."

The doors swooshed open, and Vegeta darted back to his feet, a yelp almost passing his lips.

Dana chuckled. "No, you're not fucking nervous at all!"

"Shut up!" Vegeta muttered under his breath. The man walking in had four pips on his collar. Vegeta took in a deep breath and walked towards him.

"Captain Saotome," he called. Ranma's eyes shifted to look at Vegeta. He changed direction and walked towards him. The two met up close, and Ranma held out his hand. In true warrior fashion, Vegeta wrapped his hand around Ranma's wrist. It only took a split second for Ranma to do the same, and the two shook arms.

"Commander Vegeta, I presume."

Vegeta nodded. He noted that Ranma immediately looked around the engine room, his gaze flashing from one worker to the next.

_Good!_ Vegeta thought. _At least I know he's not an idiot!_

Ranma's eyes rested on the final worker, and then he turned to look back at Vegeta with a single nod.

"Your team is very well organized, Commander! I'm impressed!"

Vegeta grinned immediately. He knew it! Of course they were the best! He would settle for nothing less. Sure, they had made a slip up or two, but after pulling nearly a week's worth of double shifts, such was expected.

"Thank you, Captain." Vegeta chuckled. Ranma motioned for Vegeta to step into the chief engineer's office. Vegeta lead the Captain there, and the doors shut behind them.

The two stood in front of the desk. Ranma leaned back against it casually, and Vegeta snickered in his head. _I think I'm gonna like this guy!_

"Listen, Commander," Ranma said plainly. "I'm going to tell you what I told my first officer. I'm green under the collar. I had nine months with the rank of commander, and then went through intensive training and was given a commission. I've never served a tour of duty on a starship as a command officer. I know that you and he are the only two qualified to really run the show, so rather than try to come up to your level, I hope that you will aid me as much as possible while I learn the ropes."

Vegeta was gawking. Did his captain just… admit Vegeta was better than him??!

"You want me to tell you how to do your job?" Vegeta's monotone reply came.

Ranma chuckled. "Not on your life, mister! I'll figure that part out eventually. I just need you and Commander Goku to… well, to be my professors for a bit."

Vegeta nodded once. "You can count on me, Captain."

"Good." Ranma approved. "Don't call me captain."

"…Huh?" Now Vegeta was lost.

"I may have the rank, but I definitely don't have the experience, Commander. I'd prefer it if you and Commander Goku would just… Call me Ranma. I'll shake down any one of the lackeys on this ship if they do that, but when it comes to you two… well, I'm not there yet."

Respect immediately poured over Vegeta, and his face melted into pure admiration. He had wanted his Captain to prove himself, for sure! And maybe the biggest way to do that was to admit that he wasn't capable of doing it at all! Vegeta's hand came out this time, and he held it in front of him with reverence. Ranma clasped his arm again, and they shook.

"Captain," he said. "…Ranma. Welcome aboard the U.S.S. Wildstar!"

They shook one more time, and Vegeta released his arm. He turned and exited the room, hollering at one of his team the second the doors opened.

Ranma chuckled and walked out behind him, heading for the engineering exit. Yes, this might just turn out good after all!

_Suck on it, Oyaji!_

* * *

_POOF!!! _OK, so what did you think!?? Pretty Silly? Pretty Good? It sucked?? It rocked??? Review, people! Review!!! If you like it, I'll put up more chapters!

MattSaotome


	2. Chapter 1: A ship, her captain, and crew

OK, so once again we continue on with the crazy crossover fic! I just wanted to try and iron out a few things quickly first. Ranma's pretty OOC in the prologue, and I agree with that. I guess I kinda figured that Starfleet mighta ended up having that sort of effect on him. That, and not having been around Akane for a while! But she DOES make a return in this chapter for a permanent position on board. We'll be seeing some old behaviors creeping back into play here.

Another thing I need to ask about is: I'm having incredible troubles getting the edit/preview to work the way I want it to. Basically, every time I try to but a gap between paragraphs to symbolise a scene change... it reverts it the second I try to save it! Maybe I'm doing something wrong? Even the stupid shift+enter thing doesn't work in the end... it all just goes away when I save it! If someone could help me out here, that'd be great! Until then... I guess it's break-lines for the scene changes.

I appreciate everyone's reviews. Keep it up! If I don't know what you think, I won't know what to change or keep the same!

Well... read on, folks!

MattSaotome

* * *

Chapter 1

A Ship, Her Captain, and Her Crew

Three hours had now passed. The maintenance crew had left the bridge forty minutes before, and Ranma was now basking in the glory of its completeness. Goku was down at the helm console, checking over readouts and displays. He nodded approval several times over the last half hour.

Ranma chuckled from his chair as he closed the readout he was analyzing.

"You don't tire of this at all, do you Commander?!"

Goku grinned, not looking away from the console. "Absolutely not!"

Ranma nodded. "Good."

"Transporter room two to bridge. The last four officers have beamed aboard, sir."

"Thank you." Ranma replied to the com. "Have them report to the briefing room as soon as they're ready."

"Aye, sir."

Now Goku lifted his head and turned to face Ranma.

"Time to see what kind of a bridge staff we have!" Ranma jumped out of his chair, speaking enthusiastically. Goku smiled, and the two of them headed into the briefing room to prepare.

* * *

"Bridge to engineering."

Vegeta snapped his head up from the readout. "Go ahead."

"Commander, the rest of the command officers have beamed aboard. The Captain is holding a briefing of all department heads in the observation lounge in two hours."

Vegeta nodded. "Fine. I'll be there."

* * *

The replicator finished producing the pot of tea, and Ranma scooped it up and put it in the middle of the long conference table to complete the preparations. Now there was tea and a few assorted meats and crackers so that they could all get to know each other a little before launch. It was his first command, so he was out to make everyone feel as at home as possible.

"Ready?" he asked Goku, who nodded in reply. The two moved to the far corner of the room where the dim lights concealed their faces in shadow. Ranma wanted to get a look at their faces before they could see his. The doors opened, and a security guard walked in. Ranma watched in silence as the four figures walked into the room. His face melted slowly but surely into utter dismay. The four lined up at the table and noticed the refreshments, while Ranma just reached slowly behind himself for the wall and leaned back against it in shock.

In front of the conference table stood Shampoo, Ryouga, Mousse and Akane.

"…Oh God…" he whispered, the four of them beginning to help themselves to the tea and food and talking to each other a bit.

Goku noted the expression on Ranma's face. "You know them, Captain?"

Ranma gulped. "Yeah… Uhh… listen, go ahead and introduce me. It's… See, I don't expect to be alive in the next five minutes…"

Goku looked a little puzzled, but he shrugged and did as he was told. He stepped out of the shadows, and Ryouga was the first one to notice he was there. He dropped the slice of ham and snapped to attention. The sound of Ryouga's hands hitting his sides brought the other three's heads around to see what was happening. They all snapped at attention as well.

Goku stepped up to them, looking each one over quickly as he went down the line of them. Then, he turned.

"At ease," he said. "I'm Commander Goku." The four relaxed, but stayed facing Goku.

"Commander," Mousse asked. "Where is the Captain? None of us even know who it's going to be."

Akane shot a quick look over to Mousse. _Am I the only one that knows?_

Goku smiled. "Well that's easy, Commander. He's standing over there."

The four looked over to the corner of a room, where they could see the bottom half of a person leaning against the wall. Akane could barely make out a set of crossed arms. Then something caught her eye, and she smiled slightly. She saw the tip of a pigtail dangling above one of the hands.

As Goku gestured in the shadow figure's direction, it pushed away from the wall and took three steps into the light, arms still crossed.

Ryouga growled. Mousse sighed as Shampoo went nuts and began hopping and clapping eccentrically. Akane just stood there.

"Ranma!" They all said in unison.

Ranma swallowed hard, but managed to keep his arms crossed as he moved his eyes from one to the other. His gaze met Akane's, and his eyes stopped moving, the two of them staring at each other as the group slowly fell silent. There was only one way he knew of to do this, and it would make things very uncomfortable. Finally, he dropped his arms and sighed.

"You all received your postings from my father, I take it?" he asked. All of them except for Akane nodded, but Ranma didn't notice. Ryouga couldn't stop scowling at him. Shampoo's eyes may as well have had stars in them for how much they were glittering with joy. Ranma couldn't see anything behind Mousse's glasses.

"Fu. Figures." Ranma chortled. "Alright, let's get this over with. Rank and position, starting with you, Mousse."

Mousse, who didn't seem to really be as bothered by this as the others, simply nodded. "Lt. Commander. Chief of Security. Bridge station Tactical."

Ranma's eyes switched over to Shampoo. She sighed deep. "Wo Ai Ne…"

Goku cleared his throat. Akane glared at the Amazon. Mousse sighed heavily. Shampoo blinked, then quickly straightened and answered. "Shampoo Commander. Chief of Operations."

Ranma looked over at Ryouga, who was still snarling. "Lt. Commander. Helm." Was all he said. Ranma tripped over nothing, hitting the ground with a thud. Everyone in the room raised their eyebrows. Ranma stood up again and straightened his tunic. He pointed a single finger at Ryouga. "Don't get us lost leaving space dock." He joked. Ryouga just snarled louder.

Ranma sighed. "Alright, the three of you can man your stations and continue departure preparations. We'll have a briefing here in an hour and a half."

Mousse nodded and began to wave the other two out the door, since they didn't seem very inclined to leave on their own. A moment passed by, and all that remained in the briefing room were Goku, Ranma and Akane.

"Commander," Ranma looked over at Goku. "Could you give us a moment alone, please?"

Goku nodded once and escorted the security guard out the door.

Ranma stood staring at Akane for a few long seconds before he cleared his throat and spoke.

"Hi… Akane. So what posting did my father give you?"

Akane's eyes shook a little. "CMO." She answered shortly.

Ranma put his arms back behind his head. He thought for a moment, then continued.

"Listen, Akane… I know you don't… like me very much so… if you don't want to be here… well, you don't have to be."

Akane glared at Ranma. If her eyes had been a phaser, he'd be vaporized a hundred times over.

"And what gives you the right to assume any of that?!"

Ranma blinked, then went on the defense. "Hey! I'm just trying to be considerate of your feelings here, OK??"

"Well do me a favor and DON'T!"

"FINE!!"

"FINE!!!!"

"GOD, you are SO uncute!!"

"Ranma, you JERK!!!" With a swing of her fist, Ranma flew into the back wall with a bang. He watched in silence as Akane stormed out of the room. The doors swept open to let her out. On the other side was Vegeta, who was about to step into the lounge.

"Get the fuck out of my way!!!" Akane snarled.

Vegeta, eyes wide with a deeply hidden fear of a woman's wrath, stumbled back a few steps and made room for her to walk down the corridor. He shook his head in disbelief as he walked into the lounge. He looked at Ranma, who was flat against the wall. Behind his back, Vegeta could see the titanium bulkhead was cracked.

"…Holy shit…" he mused. He pointed a finger in the direction of the door. "Friend of yours?"

Ranma peeled himself off the wall with a grunt and brushed his tunic down.

"Fiancé." He replied. Vegeta's eyes got bigger.

"You're engaged to THAT?!"

Ranma nodded.

"……You sly fox!" Vegeta grinned. "A warrior's bride, to be sure! Not many women left in the galaxy can frighten me, but her eyes…"

"…Vaporize you on the spot. I know. What's on your mind, Vegeta?" Ranma was twisting his shoulder a little.

Vegeta blinked as he remembered why he had come to the lounge in the first place. "Ah. That's right. I need to schedule a meeting with the department heads some time after we launch. There're a lot of new toys on this girl since the Sovereign class, and many of them haven't been drafted into the Starfleet training manuals yet."

Ranma nodded. "Officer thinking, Vegeta. Schedule the meeting for whenever you'd like it. I'll let everyone know."

Vegeta nodded back. "Seventeen hundred, then." He cast his eyes once more to the cracked bulkhead. Shaking his head a few times, he chuckled and headed for the door.

"You have a strong woman, Ranma! I like her already!" Then he was out the door and gone.

Ranma sighed into a chair. He decided to stay in the lounge until someone from the bridge called him out. At least he knew he'd be safer there. Then he remembered something, and he turned and hit the com switch on the table.

"Commander Hibiki, please come to the Observation Lounge."

"On my way." Ryouga's voice growled back over the intercom.

* * *

"I can't believe that jerk!" Akane was unpacking her desk collection in sickbay. "The least he could have said was 'It's nice to have you on board' or something! But no! Instead, he offers me a transfer within the first thirty seconds!"

She sighed into her chair. "Ranma, you dummy. Your dad didn't give me this assignment. I asked for it."

There was a knocking sound on the glass. Akane looked up into the face of a man in a medical uniform. He smiled, and Akane waved him in as she stood and held out her hand.

"I'm Lt. Commander Michael McCoy," the man stated, taking Akane's hand and shaking it.

"Commander Akane Tendo, CMO." She replied.

"You're my boss, then!" The man exclaimed. "Great! I just want you to know that I'm here for you if you need me. We also have two nurses on staff. Lt. Kathy Venice, and Lt. Jean Ogawa."

Akane seemed to realize something about the young doctor, and after a moment, she pointed a finger at him.

"…Who is your great grandfather, if you don't mind my asking?"

He grinned from ear to ear. "Doctor Lenard H. McCoy!" The man proclaimed.

Akane snapped her fingers with a smile. "I knew it!"

* * *

Mousse was looking over the tactical station with pride and approval. Everything seemed to be right where he needed it! The design team certainly wasn't a slacking lot, that was for sure! He ran his hand across the smooth surface of the top of the station, admiring everything about it. For him, there was no greater posting than this! He was the Chief of Security and Weapons officer aboard the new and most powerful starship in the fleet! What an honor!

So Ranma happened to be the Captain. Why should he really let it bug him? One thing he had in his training with Starfleet was time to think about things. That included realizing that, while Shampoo pursued Ranma at every turn, Ranma had no interest whatsoever in being in a relationship with her. Hell, Ranma didn't even love Shampoo! It was for these reasons that Mousse accepted Ranma as his Captain. Besides, he'd been on the receiving end of some of Ranma's more brilliant tactics. He was certain of the fact that Ranma would make a master among captains. In his mind, there was no other warrior in the galaxy that he'd rather sail off into combat with.

Shampoo was humming softly to herself, hitting the occasional button as it was required. The system performed most of the scans itself, so she had little to really do for the moment. She knew, though, that once the ship got flying, things would change. Her console would be the brightest display on the bridge as she managed field and deflector alignments, component temperature controls and, in combat, damage control teams and repair priorities. She made sure everything other than the shields, weapons and engines worked. It was her job to keep all the rest of the starship together and organized. Her console also contained the sciences.

At first, the thought of such a duty had been overwhelming. Once she was deep into the training at Starfleet, however, she found the job to be both mentally challenging and rewarding. It kept her on her toes, and she knew at the end of each shift that the ship hadn't gone to hell because of what she had been working on all day long.

Then there was the fact that Ranma was Captain! Oh, how happy she had been when she saw him. In the back of her mind she just knew that Ranma would soon give in to her, and they could be happily married AND working on the same ship! It was perfect! Letting Admiral Saotome give her this posting was rapidly becoming the best thing that had ever happened to her.

* * *

Ryouga stood at attention beside the table in the observation lounge. He was staring out one of the windows at the inside of the starbase. In the head chair, Ranma sat with his hands folded on the table in front of him.

"Have a seat, Ryouga." Ranma offered.

"No thank you," Ryouga replied.

Ranma made a small sound in disgust. "Sit down, Commander."

"Aye, sir." Ryouga answered, taking his seat. He turned to look at Ranma with disdain. He hated everything about his Captain. This job was going to suck. Ranma fidgeted for a moment in thought, then looked up to Ryouga.

"Listen, Ryouga. I know that you don't like me, but I want you to know that the feeling is not mutual."

Ryouga blinked.

"I know that we've been rivals, and I know that you're interested in Akane. My time away from all four of you has given me ample time to think about things. If Akane chooses you over me, then that is up to her. You need to understand, though, that I never held any interest in Shampoo and still don't. You also need to know that Ukyo and I have been friends since we were little kids, and that's all that I still consider her to be, whether or not she wanted more. And to further ease your mind, I consider Kodatchi to be a crazed bitch who belongs in a mental facility! I'm royally sick of being bashed to a pulp for every time that one of them glomps onto me without asking, just because you or Kuno couldn't be bothered to let me tell you what happened before you started swingin' and punchin'. So here is my final decision. Akane and I are engaged, yes. But if she should choose you, then she may break the engagement if she wants. I'm just sick and fucking tired of being bounced around like a beach ball about the whole thing."

Ryouga was speechless. He continued to stare blankly at Ranma, who was standing up and holding a hand out at him.

"Friends?" Ranma asked, simply. Ryouga shook himself back to reality and looked from Ranma's hand up to his face. There was sincerity there, and Ryouga found himself actually believing him. He reached out his own hand slowly and took Ranma's.

"Truce." He replied. "I'll get back to you about the friend thing."

Ranma gave a single nod. "Fair enough. Thanks, Ryouga."

Ryouga nodded once as well as they released their hands and Ranma sat back down.

"Moving on to my next concern," Ranma continued. "You said that you were my helmsman. I'm gonna be completely and totally honest and say that this worries me."

Ryouga chortled. "You're worried, huh?"

Ranma picked up a padd in front of him. "Your service record. Ahem Service on the U.S.S. Greyhound: Crashed into the Rhode Island while departing spacedock. Pilot reversed instead of going forward. Warped the Greyhound into Romulan space when the course was supposed to be for the Cardassian border. Took away team in shuttle to the wrong planet in the Antares system. Flew shuttle in kilometer wide circles trying to find the Greyhound… I'm not going to continue. There's still another starship on this list yet."

Ryouga grumbled as he fidgeted with his thumbs. "I've improved since then…" he muttered.

Ranma looked long and hard at Ryouga in silence. The weird thing was that he actually believed him. After a few more seconds of silence, he turned a bit in his chair.

"Alright, Commander. In that case, familiarize yourself with every button on your consol before this ship departs. You have an hour to do this before the Wildstar departs spacedock. Can you be ready by then?"

Ryouga was dumbfounded yet again. Ranma had taken his word that he had improved and let it be. He nodded slowly in surprise and reply.

"Thank you, Commander. Dismissed."

Ryouga stood up from the chair at 'dismissed' and headed for the exit.

"Ryouga." Ranma stopped him. Ryouga turned to face a grinning Ranma, who was now standing. "It's good to see you again."

Ryouga thought for a second, then smiled back and headed out the door.

* * *

57 minutes later

_Captain's Log, Stardate: Launch Date_

_Final preparations have been completed for launch, and the crew of the Wildstar is now scrambling to bring the main reactor on-line. Once this is done, the Wildstar will make its maiden voyage, and embark on its first mission._

Ranma turned slightly in his chair to look over at Shampoo.

"Time to launch?"

"Launch time 2 minutes, forty seconds."

"Helm," Ranma called to Ryouga. "Bring the impulse reactor on line."

Ryouga gave a single nod as his fingers flew across his console, hitting a few random buttons. Below his feet, Ranma could feel the dull surge of the reactor coming to life. The floor gave a slight little hum, and Mousse looked down at the deck plating with a funny expression.

* * *

"FARRAGE!!" Vegeta hollered at the top of his lungs as he turned at his station. "The injectors are out of alignment by point 2 microns. FIX IT!!"

Engineering was full of scrambling feet. Officers ran back and forth, fixing every little problem that surfaced as the impulse reactor hummed to life.

"Shane-o-mac!" Dana called. "Check the Heisenberg compensators! The core temperature of the secondary impulse reactor is climbing a bit over norm!"

Lieutenant Hoffman nodded quickly as he took off up the ladder to the scaffolding above the warp core and ran to the nearby console.

"Steady…" Vegeta's eyesight wasn't leaving the display before him as he watched the power levels rise.

"Clayton! Prepare to engage the Warp Reactor!" He pointed a finger behind himself, instinctively knowing exactly where the lieutenant was. Clayton acknowledged Vegeta and jetted over to the Warp Core control table.

The screen before Vegeta showed three power lines approaching the optimal line. He felt a grin tickle the corners of his mouth as the hum of the impulse reactor faded away.

"Well done, Lt. Farrage," he called out.

"Commander Jorgensen!" Shane called down from the scaffold. "Heisenberg compensators have been reprogrammed. Temperature in the impulse reactors returning to normal."

"Right on, dude!" Dana replied, not turning from the readout in front of her.

"Engage Warp Reactor!" Vegeta called out. A loud click sounded through engineering, and a thunderous hum emanated from the gigantic tube in the middle of engineering which quickly faded into background noise. Gentle pulsing began, and Vegeta and Dana both turned to look at the Warp Core with a grin. Red pulsed down into the core from the top cylinder, while blue pumped up from the floor to meet it. The Reaction chamber glowed white, and the output tubes surged with power.

"Hah!" Dana exclaimed with joy. "Eat that, technical manual!"

Vegeta chuckled for a moment. "That'll teach them for telling me I can't do a cold start on a Type F12 Reactor!"

* * *

_The enthusiasm that I've seen all over the ship has simply blown me away, and I'm beyond pleased to say that our crew has performed the first recorded Cold Start in history since Captain Kirk almost two hundred years ago. Now our only objective remaining is a silent one that I and most of the bridge crew have been praying over._

"Open hailing frequencies." Ranma called out.

"Channel open." Mousse answered.

"Wildstar to Dock master. Requesting permission to depart."

The com came to life. "Control Tower reading, Wildstar. Permission granted."

"Clear all moorings," Goku called out. Several clicks were heard, and a hiss of releasing pressure sounded through the hull.

"Aft thrusters." Ryouga said, his fingers pressing a few buttons.

Ranma tensed in his seat. Mousse instinctively reached out and grabbed his console. Shampoo ducked down a little, also gripping her console. On the viewscreen before them, the Main Doors of the starbase drifted slowly open, space beckoning to them from the other side. Slowly, the ship began to glide forward, its movement only made known from the image of the starbase moving around them on the screen.

"Nice and easy, Ryouga…" Ranma spoke quietly under his breath.

"I got this." Ryouga replied just as quietly, a small grin growing on his face. "I had two hours to practice this, remember?"

Ranma nodded imperceptibly in response, his eyes glued to the viewscreen before him. The opening of the doors loomed closer and closer. Shampoo took in a breath of air, and a small grunt of anticipation passed Mousse's lips. Goku gave a little chuckle at everyone's unease as the space doors slipped past the sides of the ship.

Ranma could've sworn he heard the 'whoosh' of the doors as the Wildstar blew through them gracefully. Outside, the ship sailed away from the starbase and into open space.

Shampoo let her breath out loudly, and Mouse gasped as he released his death grip on the console before him. Ranma hadn't thought about it, but now he could feel sweat clinging to his forehead. With a bit of a smile, he nodded once in Ryouga's direction as Goku handed him a glass of water.

"Better, indeed, Commander!" Ranma took a big gulp of the cool liquid. "Good job."

"Engineering to bridge!" Vegeta's voice blazed over the com.

"Go ahead," Goku replied.

"The Warp Core is on line, Kakarot. Warp speed at your discretion."

"Hah!" Ranma grinned from ear to ear. "Fine work, Commander!"

_For the first time in my life, I get the feeling that my Pops may have done something good for me. Sure, I have my doubts about some of my crewmates, but I think that in the end, this ship is going to do me more good than it's going to teach me anything._

"Set course 243 mark 25, Ryouga." Ranma said, looking back and forth from the viewer and his command console. "Warp six. Engage."

Ryouga nodded again. "Aye."

The stars turned a little on the viewscreen, and Ranma found himself leaning forward in his chair. The stars leveled again, and began to rush past the ship at growing speeds as Ryouga's hands flew over his console. The seconds ticked by in slow motion, and at the instant where the thousand megaton starship would have broken the light barrier…

It suddenly slammed to a full stop!

Goku was thrown to the deck. Shampoo and Mousse quickly grabbed at their consoles, avoiding the same fate.

"SON OF A BITCH!!!" A female voice that was not Shampoo's hollered out. Ryouga turned slowly in his chair with a sheepish grin on his face to see Ranma, now a girl, seated in her command chair with a glass of water tipped over in her lap. She was glaring at Ryouga with half open eyes, her expression blank.

"Commander Hibiki…" she intoned slowly.

"Ah… uh… he heh heh…" Ryouga grinned nervously. "I uh… haven't quite got that part down yet… heh heh…"

He quickly turned back to his console to correct his mistake.

_Still, maybe I'm giving Oyaji too much credit on that one. If this keeps up, Ryouga's flying will be the death of us all. And I don't have to tell ya that I won't learn nothin that way!_

* * *

And thus ends chapter 1. Well... once again, it's time for the thing called reviewing! 

Let me know what your thoughts are. The fun's still just beginning!

MattSaotome


	3. Chapter 2: Surprises and Orders

Hahah! Ok, I'm back for more chaos and surprises (unexpected ones, I hope)! First off, I've had a couple of things in the background here that I need to cover.

1) Rankings of the officers: OK, here's the tentative officer list that I'm basing the story against (basically a way of making sure that everyone who DOESN'T really matter stays consistent in the background).

Command Officers

Captain Ranma Saotome

Commander Goku (first Officer)

Commander Shampoo (Ops)

Commander Vegeta (Chief Engineer)

Commander Akane Tendo (Chief Medical Officer)

Lt. Commander Marissa Johnson (Ships Counselor - Only for first mission)

Lt. Commander Mousse (Security Chief)

Lt. Commander Dana Jorgensen (Asst. Chief Engineer)

Lt. Commander Ryouga Hibiki (Helmsman)

Lt. Nick Chesterton (Nightwatch)

Ensign Matt Hummer (Nightwatch)

Field Officers (Not able to assume command under normal circumstances)

Lt. John Carver (Transporter Chief)

Lt. Roy Clayton (Engineer)

Lt. Shane Hoffman (Engineer)

Lt. Jr. Grd. Fred Abi Farrage (Engineer)

Lt. James Briton (Security 'Deputy')

Lt. Jeff M'Koy (Security - extra)

Lt. Ryan Rosson (Security - extra)

Lt. Kevin Van Battum (Security)

Ensign Reuben Lyle (Security - extra)

Lt. Commander Michael McCoy (Doctor)

Lt. Kathy Venice (Nurse)

Lt. Jean Ogawa (Nurse)

Wildcards – Special Forces

Commander Steven Stoltz A.K.A-Ace

Lt. Commander Matt Chesterton A.K.A-Blackjack (Sergeant)

Lt. Commander Phillip Zurfluh A.K.A-Judge (Rear Sergeant)

(Tones of Soldiers that can die or are really non-significant)

Starfleet Command

Admiral Happosai

Vice Admiral Genma Saotome

CinC Admiral Darien Shields

2) The interesting happenings of the rivals and suitors: Ok, so yes, Shampoo is gonna cause problems! That's just a bit inevitable. However, she won't be causing as many this first mission (I don't think). Once she's sure Ranma has sidled beautifully into his command, then she'll probably start trying her usual routines. They just gotta... wear the ship in on him first! Hahah! As for any potential pairing off of couples and who they might end up being...

I'm not telling yet::Biieeee::

OK, so that about covers it for the moment, I think. Read on and review!!

MattSaotome

* * *

Chapter 2

Surprises and Orders

The Wildstar sailed gracefully through space at Warp six on a set of co-ordinates that no one had questioned. Standing and staring out the viewport of his ready room, Ranma Saotome had a pensive expression on his face. It had been fifteen minutes since they had departed spacedock, and an isolinear chip sat on Ranma's desk. With a dark sigh, he turned towards it. He reached down and picked the chip up, inspecting it closely. He didn't know why, but in the back of his mind, he pictured the transmission ending with something along the lines of 'This message will self-destruct in ten seconds'.

With a suspicious mind, he inserted the chip into the computer console before him and sat in his chair as the screen blipped to life with the Starfleet symbol.

To: Captain Ranma Saotome

From The Desk Of: Admiral Soan Tendo – Starfleet Command

Hello, Captain.

This is to inform you that, with great reluctance, Starfleet command may be in need of rescindment of the treaty of Algeron. Before you close this down and call high treason, let me explain.

Three days ago, One of our undercover operatives in the Orion Syndicate intercepted several transmissions between the government in power there and the Romulan Star Empire. The nature of these messages is not known, but not twenty-four hours later, insurgent Orion Raiders outfit with Romulan Cloaking Devices infiltrated the base at Ivor Prime and took the Chief of Starfleet Operations hostage. The ships immediately disappeared, leaving a hailing buoy stating that the Chief would be returned upon the Federations unconditional recindment of the black market trade walls around the Alpha Quadrant, and the cessation of our starships policing Orion Syndicate Borders.

The fact that they were equipped with Romulan Technology alone immediately brings the Romulans under suspicion. Even more serious is the fact that they used this technology in an outright act of war against us after receiving these unknown transmissions from the Romulan Senate.

If this is the way the Romulans are planning on doing business from now on, it is plain to us at Starfleet Command that things are going to have to change. The Wildstar has been equipped with the first REGISTERED cloaking device in the fleet. It produces absolutely zero gamma emissions, and is untraceable along the beta and theta bands, as well as the traditional detection methods also becoming useless against it. At current, there is no known way to breach it.

If the Romulans are involved with this attack upon the Federation's internal security, you are to announce to the Romulans that the treaty of Algeron has been rescinded in its entirety, and any further transgressions against the Federation will be treated as an act of war and responded to accordingly.

Barring this, your orders are to proceed to Orion Space. Use any necessary caution and action to retrieve the Chief of staff. Good luck, and God Speed, Captain.

Signed,

Admiral Soun Tendo

Starfleet Command

'_Oyaji, you asshole! Your going to get me killed!'_ Ranma thought to himself. He turned to get up and walk to the lavatory just as the door to his ready room chimed. "Come," he said. The doors opened to reveal his first officer.

"Wussup, Commander?"

"I just heard you scream and thought you might need help," Goku replied.

"Well, the first thing is that I didn't scream…" Ranma said, confused. _Though I'm sure my aura had a thing or two ta say about the stupid mission orders!!_

"I know." Goku responded. "But it was a good excuse to ask you about the mission."

"Well that's the second thing. You can read the orders at my desk. I'll be right back."

With that Ranma turned and continued on his way. Goku walked over and sat in his captain's chair, basking in the glory for a moment. Then he turned and brought the now blank screen back to life and started to read.

Ranma walked around the corner a moment later to see his first officer in total shock staring at his computer.

"I see you finished." He said. "Opinions?"

Goku quickly came to and looked at Ranma with shock.

"Well my first response is that it is total lunacy!" Goku remarked. "The treaty of Algeron has held the Romulan Empire and the Federation in check for decades. However, this does need to be dealt with quickly and… we ARE the ship for the job."

"Yeah, no kiddin'..." Ranma mused. "And we need to discuss this with our chief engineer! Seems to me that he may have been holdin' out on us!" Ranma said.

Goku immediately tapped his com badge.

"Goku to Vegeta. Report to the captain's ready room immediately." Goku and Ranma could hear grumbling on the other end.

"On my way, Kakarot!" Vegeta responded promptly.

Ranma turned back to Goku quickly. "And now get outta my chair."

* * *

Ryouga fidgeted at his console uncontrollably. He'd felt the tension pouring out of the ready room for the last five minutes, and it was making him uneasy. He could sense somehow that something was troubling Ranma greatly, and he was sure that Goku's aura had just changed a little as well. Behind him, in the command chair, Shampoo sighed as she poured over boorish status reports and "first run" percentage charts. This was definitely not what she wanted to be doing at that moment.

The turbolift doors to the bridge opened, and everyone's heads turned to see Vegeta. Vegeta took two steps out of the turbolift and stopped dead in his tracks. He looked around at the faces staring at him. Several seconds ticked by in silence before he snarled and waved a hand of dismissal at the bridge. He turned and walked for the captain's ready room, mumbling something about an "obviously very bored bunch of twits manning the bridge of Starfleet's greatest achievement".

No sooner than he had walked through the ready room doors and they closed behind him, the turbolift doors opened on the other side of the bridge.

Almost as if it was some kind of a ping-pong-ish ritual, everyone's heads turned 180 degrees to see who it was.

Akane strode on to the bridge with purpose in her eyes. Her eyebrows furrowed, she shot Shampoo a quick look.

"Where's the captain?" She asked plainly.

Shampoo smiled one of the usual snide smiles she gave to Akane. "Ranma in ready room with Commander Goku and Commander Vegeta. Airen been on bridge all day with Shampoo!"

Akane growled as her scowl deepened. "I don't care if he's been in a room full of clones of you!" She near hollered back. "I need to give him his physical!"

Shampoo's face became suddenly innocent. "Why Ranma want to spend time with violent girl when he can spend time Shampoo? He no go for physical with you!"

Akane crossed her arms as her hips twitched to the side a bit, one eyebrow raising. "Oh really? Watch this!"

With that, she tapped her communicator. "Tendo to Saotome"

A short second ticked by. "Go ahead, 'Kane."

"Captain, I need to see you in sickbay as soon as possible. I have to run your physical so I can file it. It's rather important."

Another short second. "Alright, I'll be down as soon as I finish with the Commanders."

"Thank you, Captain."

Akane stared straight back at Shampoo with a sly grin on her face and she let out a slightly evil chuckle.

"Eat that." She said simply with a smug expression of victory, turning back to the turbolift. As the doors closed behind her, she barely had time to see Shampoo's face twist into a snarl. With a little wave back to the Amazon, the doors closed and Akane was gone.

"…Stupid Medical Protocols…" Shampoo grunted. With a huff, she turned back to the reports.

* * *

In the Wildcard Command Centre there were about twenty-five men and women standing at ease on the large floor. There were also three men standing on a platform that made them about 2.5m taller then the rest. In the center of the group of three, the shortest one of them looked out over the men and women in front of him with pride on his face.

"Attention!" He called out in a loud, stern voice.

Before him, the entire room snapped their arms to their sides.

Commander Steven Stoltz stepped forward one step.

"My name is Commander Steven Stoltz, Sergeant in Chief of this group of the Starfleet Marine Corps. Some of you already know me as 'Ace', and the rest of you will come to respect me by that name. As you all know, we have been assigned to this ship for the duration of her first leg in space. For those of you that don't know, that's five years. During this time, our sole mission is to use our skills and abilities to protect this ship, its crew and its captain. But above all else, we are here to do the dirty work of the corporate heads at Starfleet. This means a lot of getting our hands messy, and you should all be ready to perform to the best of your abilities at any given time. These are my seconds, Sergeant Matt Chesterton, also known as 'Blackjack', and Rear Sergeant Phillip Zurfluh, also called 'Judge'."

Matt stepped forward now.

"I will be in charge of all the flank heads respectively. You answer to me, and I report to Ace. I can't make this any simpler. If you have any problems between each other, solve them. Now. We can't afford to have any of you at each others throats."

Phillip came forward.

"This is especially important. You need to be able to depend on and trust any member of your flank as well as any other with your life or more. You have all been assigned quarters on decks spread throughout the ship. This is for one simple reason: In a crisis situation, each of you is responsible for the immediate organization and protection of the senior officers and subordinates on your deck. Do not take this lightly. Do your jobs, and do them well."

"Like you were trained to do!" Steven hollered out.

"YES SIR!!!" The room echoed.

Steven turned to look at Matt. "Well… It looks like they're gonna listen ok."

Matt chuckled and shook his head. Then, he looked up at the troops as Steven turned and walked to the stairs at the rear of the platform.

"Dismissed!" He called out. The room suddenly became noisy as the marines began to disperse, talking among themselves and trying to decide whether or not their new commanders were loony.

* * *

Ranma looked up to see the doors of his ready room close behind Vegeta. He turned to Goku and motioned for him to continue their conversation. Just as they finished, Akane hailed him on the com. After a moment ticked by with Ranma responding, he finally tapped his com badge to cut the transmission and looked up at Vegeta.

"What can ya tell me 'bout this cloaking device?"

Vegeta stood silent for a second, and then blinked once at Ranma.

"Cloaking Device, sir?" he asked.

Ranma snarled a bit. "Don't play dumb, Commander! I'm not an idiot, ya know! I just received my mission orders from Admiral Tendo at Starfleet Command. He says I have a cloaking device. My brain tells me that, as chief engineer, YOU already know about it. Now I wanna know how it works and where the hell it is on my ship!"

Vegeta looked down to the ground for a second, then back up, taking the liberty to stand at ease without permission.

"It's on engineering deck two, section 32. It has no harmful emissions and is undetectable by all known means." He replied.

"That's an exact quote from my mission orders. I want more than that. I want ALL the details."

Vegeta looked tense at this request but continued nonetheless, only pausing for long enough to cast a nervous glance at Goku, not liking the feeling of being put on the spot.

"I can't tell you everything but I can tell you that I went through 6 months of intensive training to figure this thing out. I can also say that it came from a ship that is not known to many in Starfleet but it is one of ours."

"Which ship?" Ranma questioned.

Vegeta closed his eyes and shook his head. "I'm sorry, sir, but that information is classified… to ALL Starfleet personnel. Not even the Admiral, nor the President, would be permitted access to such information. They sure as hell didn't tell me! Even I don't know the answer. All I know is how to fix the damn thing!"

"Classified ta all Starflee - …This has Section 31 written All Over It!!" Ranma nearly hollered. Goku looked over to Ranma, who in turn looked back at him. Then, the two looked to Vegeta once more, and Goku stepped up to him.

"Vegeta," He began. "I'd like to think that we've been friends for some time now. In the interests of keeping this as informal as possible, why don't you just sit down and tell us everything that you DO know about this cloaking device, and why the Federation wants so badly to dissolve the Treaty of Algeron."

Vegeta seemed to ponder this for a moment as he inspected the Captain's desk with his eyes. Then, he looked back up to Ranma.

"Captain, with your permission I'd like to speak candidly about the information that has been disposed to me by Starfleet."

Goku smiled, and a hint of one showed at the corner of Ranma's mouth as he gestured to the couch behind Vegeta with a nod. "Permission granted. Have a seat, Vegeta."

Instead of taking his captain's suggestion, Vegeta immediately became enraged and began to pace.

"These stupid idiots they have running the United Federation of Planets have NO IDEA what they're doing by shattering this so called peace accord with the Romulans!" His hands became fists as he growled. "If we take the first step to collapsing the Treaty of Algeron, then WE will go down in history as the ones who sparked a war! The abduction of the Commander in Chief need not be responded to so heavily! I agree that something must be done, but even going into Romulan Territory with guns blazing would be better than dropping cloak on a new Federation Battle Cruiser right under their noses JUST TO PROVE A POINT!!!"

Ranma had become oddly comfortable in his chair, and crossed one leg over the other as he leaned back a bit. "Not ta mention that your Saiyan blood makes you… not the type of person to sneak around under cloak."

"EXACTLY!!" Vegeta hollered, swinging his arm around as he turned to face Ranma. It impacted with the cup of now cold tea sitting on the desk, which in turn spewed its contents all over Ranma. Now a girl, she sat in the chair with half closed eyes, frustration apparent over her attempt at a calm expression.

"Continue, Commander," she said plainly.

Vegeta just gawked for a moment, his eyes wide now as he stared at his now female captain.

"…Ca… Ca-Captain…?" He stuttered.

Ranma sighed deep, realizing that she had forgotten to tell Vegeta about this.

"By the way, Vegeta," Ranma explained, her voice now feminine and slightly musical, "I have a curse that causes me to turn into a girl when I'm hit with cold liquid. Hot liquid turns me back into a guy. Please try to avoid hitting me with cold liquid, and I'm sorry I didn't tell ya before but I kinda forgot but you didn't tell me about the cloaking device, so consider us one for one on breachin' the total honesty rule between the three of us. Now continue, and please stop starin' at my chest!"

Vegeta shook his head quickly, realizing that his gaze had drifted from Ranma's eyes to her chest. With a deep sigh, he clenched and unclenched his fists for a second before backing up a bit and sitting on the couch, obviously trying very hard to control himself.

"All I know," He continued now, "Is that the Commander in Chief was abducted from Ivor Prime. Starfleet command first approached me about learning the cloaking device, however, long before this happened. As I said, I trained for six months on this cloaking device. The C in C was abducted only three days ago."

Goku sat on the edge of Ranma's desk, casting his eyes towards his captain.

"Sounds like someone has been huntin' for excuses in Starfleet Command." Ranma said.

"We could be looking at the latest case of insurrection within the ranks of Starfleet Command in over three years." Goku pondered.

Vegeta raised up a hand to silence them. "I'm not so sure that we are looking at insurrection." He stated. "The officials at Starfleet have been uneasy for months. An insurrection requires a person or persons within the levels of Starfleet to go against the rules and regulations that the organization was founded upon. What I am suggesting here is a reformatting of that structure from the base."

Ranma was shocked. "You can't seriously be insinuatin' that Starfleet intends to become an empire!?"

Goku was, however, following Vegeta's train of thought to a 'T'. "Not an empire, Captain. Think of it as Starfleet wanting to lean a little more over the power line than they have before."

"Precisely!!" Vegeta nodded heatedly. "The Federation wants to be known as a Power in the Alpha Quadrant again! They remember a time when they were both sought after AND feared in the earlier days of their journeys into space. Now that they seem to have lost their edge over the other powers in the Alpha Quadrant, they have been losing ground, and fast! This is the first step in the direction of putting the other powers back into place. The Romulans, being the pathetically stupid fools that they are, just happened to hand them the perfect excuse to get started!"

Ranma was sufficiently wowed.

"Oyaji…" She muttered.

Goku turned to face Ranma completely. "Captain, it's doubtful that your father knew anything about this. He's a vice admiral, and is hardly privy to the decisions from the top. They would only have to inform him when a decision had been formally made to change the structuring of Starfleet. Since that hasn't happened yet, he probably has no idea what you're up against."

Vegeta nodded. "Admiral Tendo must be our point of suspicion at this point. All this deception and sneaking around is intollerable!! The means that they are using to go about the changes the Federation needs are ones that I do NOT AGREE WITH!!!"

Goku and Ranma both nodded.

A moment passed in silence between them before Goku broke it.

"Captain, we're well under way. I think it's time to announce our orders to the crew."

Ranma thought quietly to herself. How could this be as deep as it seemed to be getting? She just couldn't bring herself to believe that the Federation would actually be becoming power hungry. Yet it seemed that was the case. In the back of her mind, she knew only one thing: It was her job to follow orders. As such, until she had a reason to violate her instructions, she had to follow them to the letter.

And this was what she intended to do. _Mind you, the second Starfleet gives me reason to believe they are turning into idiots, they are SO going down! No one screws with MY ship and gets away with it!!_

With a deep sigh, she leaned forward and tapped a few buttons on the command console on her desk. Her voice was sent throughout all sections and decks on the ship as she pushed to make herself sound as masculine as possible. It worked better than she'd expected.

"Attention, all personnel. This is Captain Ranma Saotome. As many of you know, we are embarking out into the unknown aboard Starfleet's greatest achievement in almost seven years. At least, this is what I'm supposed ta formally say to you! What you all don't know is what the nature of our first mission is. I have before me a set of orders from Admiral Soan Tendo at Starfleet command. They state, without room for speculation, that our mission is one of the utmost urgency. The C in C of Starfleet Command has been taken hostage by the Orion Syndicate, who may be workin' for the Romulan Empire. Our mission is to retrieve him at all costs, and if it becomes necessary due to Romulan involvement, rescind the Treaty of Algeron. The Wildstar has been outfitted with a cloaking device for this mission, and if the Treaty becomes void, we are under instruction to use it. I know how all of you must react to this, but the Romulan Empire has asserted itself in such a way that makes this kidnapping an act of war. If their involvement is discovered to be factual, then I will carry out these instructions as they have been handed ta me. You should all know that I expect nothin' but your best during this rescue operation. Starfleet is countin' on us… It's time to show the Alpha Quadrant that we mean business!"

* * *

In the privacy of his quarters, Commander Stoltz lounged in his recliner seat with Matt and Phillip across the room on his couch. Each one listened to the com intently. At the last line, Steven had to smile, and he raised his glass a little in the com panel's direction.

"I think I like Captain Saotome," he chuckled. "Perhaps we can trust him, after all."

Matt, however, wore a slightly skeptical expression.

"Only time will tell," he responded, throwing back the rest of his drink.

"I think we should proceed with caution," Phillip edged, also downing his drink.

Steven waved a hand of dismissal in Phillip's general direction. "You think too much as it is. Remember your place, and quit worrying so much. Things will go as planned in the end."

* * *

Ranma emerged onto the bridge from her ready room, followed closely by Vegeta and Goku. Vegeta went straight to his engineering console, and Goku stood beside Ranma's command chair as Ranma sat in it.

"Pig-Boy, set course 215 mark 31. Vegeta, tie in Transwarp coils and increase speed to warp 12. Red Alert, all hands to battle stations. Mousse, begin tactical drills immediately. Shampoo, begin recordin' a log buoy from this point on. If Romulan involvement becomes factual, launch the log buoy. Number One… Get me a cup of tea…"

* * *

Admiral Tendo sipped gingerly at his tea from behind his desk, reading the latest status reports. The silence of the room around him was welcoming, and it had been a while since he had needed to worry about anything in general.

This was about to change, however, as his panel beeped at him. He looked down at it questioningly before pressing a couple of random buttons.

In front of his desk, a hologram appeared. He could plainly make out the identity of the five and a half foot hologram, and he sighed deeply, realizing that his headache was about to come back.

"Admiral Tendo," the hologram spoke. "Things are happening according to plan. The Wildstar is en route to Orion Space, and the Captain has announced the mission to his crew."

"All is well, then?" Soan questioned.

"For the moment," the hologram replied. "Keep in mind that Starfleet still has a lot to do on its end. We've gotten the ball rolling, now it's your turn to push a few buttons and make it speed up."

Soan wavered a little at that statement. Deep down, he hated doing this. Yet, in the back of his mind, he could only remember how his friend, Admiral Douerty, had perished at the hands of Ruafo, the head of the So'na people. He remembered how Ruafo had rubbed into Douerty's face the fact that the federation was becoming stale… that the scent of death on Starfleet was becoming all too strong, attracting one ruthless enemy after another. No, it was time to change the tides. It was time for Starfleet to re-assert itself as the powerful keepers of the peace they once were many decades ago. He had made up his mind… and the Romulans had given him the excuse to work with the man whose holographic image was standing before him.

"Everything is ready. The twelfth fleet has been completed, and there are over thirty more starships being constructed at shared locations between Utopia Planetia and the Serengeti Fleetyards. All of them are scheduled to be completed in the allotted time… We will have our war, General… I can assure you of that."

"Excellent." The hologram replied. "I'll keep things in check on my end. Do not screw this up, Admiral. I don't have to tell you that you are no less expendable than any red shirt down the line. I can have someone else in your desk by tomorrow afternoon if things go awry."

Soan gulped hard. "I know. You've kept your end of the deal… we will keep ours."

The hologram smiled. "Then we understand each other, Admiral! Good! I will communicate with you further as soon as more has developed. In the mean time, enjoy your tea. Oh, and do say hello to your oldest daughter, Kasumi, for me. It's been too long since I've had the pleasure of sampling her excellent cooking. I wouldn't want anything to happen to her if things go ill…

"Have a wonderful afternoon, Admiral!" With that, the hologram disappeared, leaving a very disturbed Soan sitting almost frozen at his desk. If that son of a bitch did anything to hurt any of his family… he just couldn't take it! No, this all had to happen right! No screw ups! He had known that from the beginning. It was time to change the face of the quadrant, and he was more than willing to make that happen, so long as Starfleet could continue to hold the peace as it had always done.

In the end, that was all that really mattered. In the end, that was what this was all about. In the end, he was certain all this would have been more than worth the risk.

He just had to keep telling himself that to stay in the game…

* * *

And thus ends another installment! Up for reviews again. Things are kinda getting a bit more serious, but I promise that this is only to flesh out the plot a little. Next chapter should have things returning to their... unusual yet comical demeanour!

Anyways, review, folks! I hope you liked it!

MattSaotome


	4. Chapter 3: Tensions

Well, for some reason I went on a bit of a role here, so there's another chapter!! (Yes, I did both of them in a row before posting them... wierd...)

Couple of things to comment on:

keichan2: I think Ranma will be post-Saffron in his power level. Mind you, that still pales in comparisson next to a super saiyan, but it does kinda bring Ranma that much closer to their power levels. Just so you know, though... I do prefer Ranma over Dragonball Z, so even if he is weaker than them physically... He's still got my vote!

Nysk: I would never EVER dream of doing that! The fact of the matter is that I'm a diehard fan of the couple that's MEANT to be together! Ranma and Akane! If you're not too sure where I stand with the two of them... heh, I suggest you read 'Warm Rain' on my main page! As for what you said in regards to Goku and Vegeta; I definitely had to tone Vegeta down a bit, but I still gave him one hell of a fiery temper! Don't worry... he injures an officer or two that crosses the line with him! Heheh... wouldn't be Vegeta otherwise. And Goku, I've always seen as being a very passive kind of person until he needs to defend the innocent and stand up for what's right. Heh, THEN he usually kicks ass::Evil Grin:: And I simply HAD to make Akane the CMO, just for the sheer irony of it all!

Firebird2083: I appreciate the help, dude! I think I'll just stick with the hr tags as well.

Wolfy-san: Hahah! Yep, just another evil irony! Believe me, he's just starting out good 'cause he's nervous! He'll get worse. I guarantee it!

keichan2: You nailed it on the head with pretty much EVERYTHING you said about Ryouga. I mean, how long would a truce last between those two... really?!

OK, so this chapter starts digging a little further into the insanity of the mission they're being sent on. The beginning of it might be a bit rough around the edges, but I think it smooths out as it goes (one of those 'necessary to start it off' things again... God, I hate those!) Hey, gimme a cat scan, somebody!!!

::Throws back rest of coffee with a sigh::

So... Chapter 3!!

MattSaotome

* * *

Chapter 3

Tensions

The Conference room was a mess of noise and confusion as Ranma, Goku and Vegeta walked in. Nine voices competed with each other in the room, each one obviously trying to make a point. The instant that Ranma was recognized, everyone flocked around him, and he was instantly happy that he had changed back to his male form before entering the room.

Nine voices all called out 'Captain' to him, then each one went off on their own topic, mixtures of 'what the hell' and 'how can Starfleet' and 'are they crazy', among other things ramming into his ears.

Goku cleared his throat as loudly as he could, but nothing happened. He waited a couple of seconds, and then tried again, once more to no avail. Vegeta snarled, angry at the mob before him, and took in a deep breath of air.

"EVERYONE SHUT UP!!!!!!!!!" he hollered. His voice echoed in the tiny room at the sudden impending silence that followed. If there were crickets, Ranma was sure they wouldn't even have been chirping out of fear.

"Much better!" Vegeta grinned.

"Everyone, take a seat," Ranma said, rubbing his left temple with his eyes shut. The group complied, and within a moment, everyone was sitting down, all eyes now glued on Ranma. Goku and Vegeta took their seats as well, and Ranma stood behind his own chair in classic captain style, placing his hands on the head rest.

"Everyone here heard the mission orders. Now before ya all go nuts, let me cover what we know. To start this off, I'll hand the podium over to Commander Vegeta, whose involvement in this has been rather unique on its own."

Ranma gestured to Vegeta, who rose and walked over to the front of the table. Ranma walked over to the windows and leaned against one of the frames. Vegeta activated the viewscreen at the front of the room and turned to face everyone as a schematic appeared.

"This," he said, pointing to the screen behind him, "Is an alpha model cloaking device. Its development is classified, so I can't tell you where it was built, nor who was involved in building it. Six months ago, I was ending my tour of duty aboard the U.S.S Freebird, a Sovereign class starship, when I received a transmission from Starfleet Command. I was to spend the next six months in deep training around the maintenance and operation of this device. Not thinking too hard about it at the time, I took the assignment. Now that things have happened as they have, the Captain, the first officer and I all agree that something is not right with the fools at Starfleet command! You see, I was assigned to this device six months ago, but the C in C was captured only three days ago, and Starfleet has pegged this as their reason for developing a cloaking device that already existed."

He stepped away from the head of the table and returned to his seat as Ranma came back to the front.

"After discussin' our mission orders, Commander Goku, Commander Vegeta and I can come to only one conclusion: The Federation feels a need ta re-assert itself as a strong force in the Alpha Quadrant. Decades ago, in the days of Captain Kirk, Starfleet was recognized as keepers of the peace, goin' out into space in peaceful exploration but with the ability to kick serious ass; an ability that has taken a back seat in the last thirty years as regulations and non-interference policies have become tighter and tighter. The Federation has become more of a group of observers that occasionally make a new mark in the quadrant."

"Three years ago," Goku spoke up now, turning to face the table full of people, "The So'na approached the Federation with a proposal based around Metaphysics. When Starfleet embraced the proposal and sent people to work with the So'na, Ruafo was found to be impatient and unreasonable. It was during one of these arguments that Admiral Douerty was told by Ruafo that the Federation had become weak and hunted by all the major powers in the quadrant, each of them 'smelling the scent of death on the federation'. When Admiral Douerty was killed, Admiral Tendo took it to heart, since they were close friends. I believe that, to ensure that his friend's death was not in vain, Admiral Tendo has set about the strengthening of Starfleet through certain means."

"Means that we obviously don't agree with!" Ranma intoned. "If the Romulans are involved with the kidnappin' of the C in C, then we are ordered ta rescind the treaty of Algeron. This will give the Federation the right ta develop and use cloaking technology."

"But Ranma," Akane spoke up. "Haven't we already violated the treaty by creating the cloaking device?"

Ranma nodded at the wisdom behind his fiancée's words. _Sometimes, Akane, you can actually make sense! When you're not beatin' me over the head, that is!! _"I guess you're right, Akane. We are a flying violation of the rules. At this point, however, we are expected ta behave in a state of deniability. It's far from plausible when ya boil it down, but until we use the cloaking device," Ranma spread his arms apart a little as he shrugged, "We don't got it."

"Captain," Dana chuckled. "Starfleet can't seriously expect us to just waltz over there and rescind the treaty, can they? I mean, the treaty has kept us from all out war for years! How can they call for it to be abolished?"

"Survival of the fittest, Jorgensen," Vegeta grinned for a second. "It has always been the first primal law. Starfleet believes that it is necessary to risk open conflict with the Romulans in order to achieve the powerful stance they once held in space. It will open up a field to them that over forty percent of the alpha quadrant exercises already anyways!"

"The ability to cloak." Mousse nodded, seeing Vegeta's point.

"But at what cost?" McCoy piped up. "I've seen the casualties of many wars, and I have to tell you that if the Federation is ready to put people into that position again… The rescindment of the Treaty of Algeron could have repercussions that ripple across the entire Alpha Quadrant. In the end, I don't see how this could remain limited to the Federation and the Romulans. There's just no way an issue like that could remain contained in our own little war."

Ranma waved a hand to stop the Doctor. "You're thinkin' too far ahead, Doctor. As far as I'm concerned, I won't use the cloak unless it is absolutely necessary. That is ta say that we'd have ta be in some pretty heavy danger before I activate it, and unless circumstances prevent ANY other course of action, I definitely do NOT intend ta drop cloak right in front of a bunch of Romulans."

"No kidding!" Ryouga breathed. "You wanna talk about striking a match by propane… that's the only way that could lead!"

Ranma nodded. "Exactly. I'm in no hurry to spark that explosion! So this is the game plan for now, people. We go about the mission as we have been ordered, but under no circumstance is anyone to even acknowledge the existence of a cloaking device on board until I call for it ta be activated. Understood?"

Nods came from around the table.

"OK then," Ranma breathed. "Now that we've discussed the flaws in the base of the organization we work for, let's move on ta less mutinous subjects. Lieutenant Nick Chesterton, Ensign Matt Hummer, you two're assigned to the night watch. Your duty shift begins in five hours. Make sure that you're on constant watch for Orion Raiders. At warp twelve, we'll be comin' up on their borders by morning, but there's no way to know for sure if there aren't cloaked raiders patrollin' the space near the boarders. First sign of trouble, wake the senior staff and have a situation report ready for the first officer that arrives on the bridge. Mousse, Briton, continue runnin' battle drills on all decks. I want everyone ready for anything. By morning, I want a dozen security officers or more on every deck.

"Vegeta, Jorgensen, brief your staff on all the latest gadgets on board, includin' the cloaking device. Once they all know how to maintain the damn thing, stop talkin' about it!

Akane, McCoy… make sure sickbay is fully prepped for any medical emergency. I hate sayin' things like 'Be ready for near-dead bodies', but I think that this might be necessary for the situation we're headin' into."

Ranma looked around the room. A moment passed in silence as he surveyed everyone's faces. They all looked back at him with expressions that clearly indicated they were listening to their captain, and this made Ranma feel a little better. At least, for now, they were taking him seriously.

"You've all been trained for these jobs, and you're all the best people to do them. I expect you ta behave like Starfleet officers – Like professionals. Stay alert, stay focused, but above all else, stay true to your uniforms. Any questions?"

Silence greeted his question, a few of the people around the table shaking their heads. Ranma nodded once.

"Good. Now to move on, I'd like to introduce you all to Commander Stephen Stoltz." Ranma motioned towards him, "Commander?"

Stephen rose from his seat and stepped to the front of the conference table.

"My name is Commander Stephen Stoltz. I am in command of the Wildcards; Starfleet's military detachment on board the Wildstar. My men and I have been assigned to this ship for the duration of her first leg in space. During this time, we will be handling most of the dirty work. While my men are at the disposal of the Wildstar's security needs, we are also responsible for handling any military action needed onboard or on away missions. I want you all to know that we don't consider ourselves to be a separate entity from any of you, and we'd all like to be able to consider the Wildstar our home, just as all of you will. My men are at your disposal, and if you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to seek out any of the Captain, the first officer, or myself. It's all pretty much the same thing. Any way you look at it, it'll reach my ears, so whatever floats your boat, I guess!"

Stephen grinned at his last comment, and several people at the table chuckled. With a nod from Ranma, Stephen went back to his seat, and Ranma stepped back up to his chair.

"As commander Stoltz pointed out, his group is here to see to all military aspects of our missions, includin' security. Mousse, I want you to co-ordinate your battle drills with Commander Stoltz, and make sure that the Wildcards undergo everythin' that your men do."

Mousse nodded. "Aye, sir."

"Good. Commander Jorgensen, I believe you're up next," Ranma looked to the assistant Chief Engineer. She turned her eyes to Vegeta, who reached into his chest pocket and pulled out an isolinear chip, which he slid across the table to her. She flipped it upright and quickly inserted it into the small computer console in front of her. The conference monitor came to life again, and in a short second, a schematic of the Wildstar appeared.

"Commander Vegeta and I have news of new toys for all of you," she smiled. "To get the ball rolling, I'd like you all to first take a look at this."

She pressed a few buttons, and the screen zoomed in to an area of the saucer section, and then came to a halt on a particularly sophisticated looking piece of machinery.

"This," she pointed to the screen, "Is the latest in holo-technology. This emitter array encompasses more juice than fifty holodecks put together."

"What is it… for?" Ryouga asked, staring in awe at the array along with almost everyone else at the table.

"Patience, Mr. Hibiki," Dana said. "This device is connected to several dozen holo emitters across the ship's hull. These allow us to display holographic images out into space. Its primary design is camouflage. With a few commands into the main computer, this ship can be made to look like anything we want it to."

"Impressive," Deputy Briton mused.

"All the control programs have been loaded into the operations station. The device is on line and fully functional."

"That Shampoo's toy!?" Shampoo's grin nearly split her face, and again, several people chuckled.

"Moving on," Dana laughed. "Next up is the saucer separation feature. You've all seen this on other starships, most notably the Galaxy Class. The difference here is that, unlike the Galaxy class, the saucer section is capable of military assault action, just like the star drive section."

Dana pressed a few more buttons, and the Wildstar on the screen underwent a saucer separation. The turbolift cartridges on the star drive saucer plate lowered back inside, and to everyone's amazement, the bottom of the saucer section sprouted two warp nacelles, each coasting into a position that threw striking similarities to a Reliant class starship as a torpedo bay rose on two angled struts behind the bridge section.

"Oh, sweet mother of pearl…" Mousse gawked. Several nods of extreme approval came from some of the bridge officers, and there was a smile of self-centered delight at everyone's awe plastered on Vegeta's face.

"My own invention." He commented.

There were a few remarks of recognition shot Vegeta's direction, and he basked in the glory of his own genius for a few seconds before Dana cleared her throat.

"While the Saucer and Star drive separated are excellent in battle, there is a feature that requires the ship to be whole in order for it to work. This is called the Wildfire Scenario. What this is, none of you are going to like very much just for what has to happen to do it. In the event that the Wildstar is incapacitated in battle, Starfleet has finally managed to put together something useful from the wreckage of the Doomsday Machine that Captain Kirk disabled almost two hundred years ago. When this scenario is activated, an enormous power surge is sent through the shield generators. This builds to a massive anti proton burst that blasts out away from the ship in all directions that a generator faces."

"That sounds good, actually!" Mousse piped up. "It gives us the last word if there's nothing else we can do."

"While that is true," Dana shot a 'thanks for interrupting' look at Mousse before continuing, "There would have to be no friendly ships within a 50,000 Km range of the blast or they're history. That's downside number one. Downside number two is this; the blast will burn out the shield generators until they can be repaired at a starbase. The blast will also burn out the main computer core, as well as frying every warp plasma junction on the ship. While the junctions can be repaired by a starship engineering team, the time it takes to do that means you'd better be damned sure the blast is gonna kill ALL the bad guys cause you won't be warping out of there for at least two days, not to mention that the fried computer core makes all that impossible anyways!"

"Ouch!" Ranma winced. "So everyone knows, I'll be considerin' this a kamikaze solution at best. Don't count on me issuin' this order. Ever!"

Dana chuckled. "Good idea. Finally, this ship has a compliment of twenty thousand triphasic torpedoes, forty thousand quantum torpedoes, six triphasic launchers, five quantum launchers, fifteen mark seven phaser banks, six mark six banks, two thousand subspace mines, eight tractor emitters, twenty transporter buffers and one bad ass mother of a plasma phase cannon to top it all off!"

Mousse fell out of his chair. Vegeta laughed out loud and several 'holy shit's' were heard from around the table.

"The warp reactor on the star drive section comes equipped with transwarp coils, giving us a top speed rating of warp 15, though the engines have never been pushed past 14.5. That little trick we gained from the Borg when the starship Voyager returned to the alpha quadrant. The saucer's independent reactor is capable of warp 9.98. Shield output on the completed ship is well over four hundred thousand terraquads. Separated, the star drive shield generators put out two hundred ten thousand while the saucer puts out one hundred eighty thousand."

"Ain't nothing getting through those in a hurry!" Briton remarked.

"Let's not get too cocky on that one," Goku spoke up now. "All these features have been developed to bring us back into the position of 'formidable'. While they sound impressive, they only give us an edge over some of the stuff other races are coming out with now."

Everyone nodded understanding.

"And that's all I've got for ya. Oh, except that sickbay's power systems are finally independent of the rest of the ship's power grid. If the ship's power fries, Sickbay's will still be active."

"That's good to hear!" Akane was impressed. "Can't wait to not have power outages!"

Ranma chuckled. "Thank you, Commander Jorgensen. Well, there ya have it, people. We are sittin' on the biggest flyin' machine of war since the early days of Starfleet. All these features are impressive, but let's remember that we're still explorers. Just because we get the dirty missions, don't mean that we betray what the Federation stands for. Don't get me wrong. I'll cold cock anyone who pisses me off, but I want you all to be true to the organization we represent. Understood?"

"Aye, sir," the synchronous reply floated off the table.

"Good. Resume your duty stations."

As the officers rose from their chairs and left the room, Ranma singled out Akane and put himself in her path. As everyone else exited the room, he crossed his arms in front of himself and looked to his feet, making for a shaky start.

"Um, Akane… Listen… I wasn't tryin' to… Umm… ah, shit… ::sigh:: assume anything… last time we were in here. And I… uhh… certainly wasn't behavin'… like a Captain should. I just… umm… want you ta know… I'd, uh… like to be able to… be your Captain… and NOT be your captain… at the same time."

Akane turned a little red and she smiled a bit. _Not quite the best apology he's ever pulled off… but hell… I already forgave him for that…_

"Listen, Ranma… Thank you. For apologizing to me, I mean. I think I… that is to say I HOPE I understand what you're trying to say, and… We'll make it work… somehow…"

Unable to think of anything else to say, Akane looked at the floor as well, and quickly stepped around Ranma. Her face was burning red as she walked out the doors and left Ranma to stare at the wall behind where she had been standing. He stood in the room alone for a minute before twitching an eyebrow and giving a deep sigh.

"Yeah…" _We always do… just never with the results I really want…_

He crossed his hands behind his back and headed for the exit as well, trying to figure out exactly what had just happened in his mind. He wanted to try to sort it out, but at the same time, he didn't want to over think it and ruin one of the few good moments the two of them had ever shared. He opted instead to clear his mind and just get back on the bridge where it was obvious what he needed to think about at any given moment.

* * *

_Captain's log, supplemental_

_We've been on course for the Orion border for almost four hours now. While the rest of my crew is enthusiastic since the briefing, I find myself wondering if we aren't playing a very large roll in the structural collapse of the entire alpha quadrant._

The door buzzer to Ranma's ready room buzzed.

"Come," he called out. The doors opened and Shampoo came storming in. She walked right past Ranma as he attempted to object to company and huffed down on the couch.

"Um, what can I do for ya, Shampoo?" Ranma asked carefully.

"Ryouga stupid!" she spat in disdain. "Shampoo always have to correct his course! Stupid boy can't fly ship in straight line without screw up!"

Ranma chuckled. "Well are ya at least telling him what he's doing wrong?"

Shampoo glared at him, and inside, Ranma felt himself getting vaporized slowly and painfully.

"Shampoo no want to talk to stupid boy!"

Ranma sighed. "Fine. I'll deal with it. Is that everything?"

Shampoo smiled and stood, walking slowly over to Ranma. "Now we both here, you want spend some time alone with Shampoo?"

As she spoke, she came up to him and slid her arms over his shoulders, wrapping herself around his neck.

It was at this instant that Akane walked through the doors, not even bothering to buzz. She came to a screeching halt at the sight before her.

Ranma's face drained of all color.

"Oh… shit… Akane, this isn't what it looks like!" He instantly tried to defend himself, then suddenly winced as he realized that particular line NEVER helped. It usually made things worse!

"Oh, really?!" Akane spat out. "I don't much care what it's supposed to be! You just never LEARN!!!"

Akane grabbed the model of the Constitution class starship sitting on a shelf near the entryway and threw it at Ranma. Shampoo jumped back just in time as the model smacked into Ranma's forehead with enough force to knock him to the floor.

Shampoo gasped as Akane turned and stormed out of the ready room hollering out something about the captain being preoccupied at the moment. The doors finished closing and Ranma sat up slowly, rubbing his head where the model had hit.

"Akane, wait!" He jumped up and bolted out of the ready room, leaving Shampoo alone. She stood there in silence for a second, then let out a sigh of loneliness and walked slowly out of the ready room to resume her station.

* * *

Everyone on the bridge watched in confusion as Ranma stormed out of his ready room in hot pursuit of Akane. He disappeared into the same turbolift car as her and the bridge fell silent again, save for the beeps and blips of background noise. 

Goku watched from the captain's chair and gave a little chuckle.

"They'll be together in no time flat!" he commented.

Mousse grinned. "I hope so," he replied. "I still want my Shampoo, but as long as she chases after Ranma…"

Goku leaned towards the tactical station with a reassuring look.

"Don't worry, Mousse. She'll come around eventually."

Mousse took in a deep breath of air, and then nodded quickly as he looked back to his station. He was only distracted for a moment when Shampoo came moping out of the ready room and took her station slowly. He shook his head quickly to return his mind to his duty just as his console beeped loudly at him.

"Battle drills are done for the evening, Commander. Everyone's calling it a night."

"One more hour…" Ryouga mused from the helm station. "How am I doing, Ops?"

Shampoo sighed deep and pushed a few buttons with an obvious lack of interest.

"Stupid boy need to come starboard 2.3 degrees," she mumbled, leaning on her console and putting her chin in her hand.

Ryouga gave a little growl, but punched in the correction none the less.

Dana turned from the engineering console at the back of the bridge to face Goku.

"Sir, engineering reports are coming in for the end of the day. Shall I forward them to your chair?"

"Yes, please, commander." Goku replied, flipping up the console on the command chair and pressing a button. It was at that moment that the turbolift doors opened. Inside, Ranma was leaning against the turbolift wall with his arm. He slumped away from it slowly and trudged onto the bridge in a manner that showed he had surrendered yet again. Goku looked over at him, then back to the reports, and then snapped around to look at him again.

Ranma was black and blue! He had been punched in the eye, there was a blood trail from his nose down to his upper lip, and the opposite side of his face from the black eye was starting to turn purple.

Goku was out of the chair in a flash and by his side.

"Captain!" He immediately took to surveying Ranma's injuries. "Should I call sickbay?"

Ranma chortled. "Fu! Don't bother! The CMO's who did it. She knows what condition I'm in."

Goku shook his head as he took a step back to examine all of his captain, making sure there were no hidden injuries. From the helm station came the sound of Ryouga's laughter.

"Hahaha!! She beat you to a pulp! Hahah!!"

"Keep it up, 'Lieutenant'!!" Ranma hollered. "Just try an' piss me off an' find out what happens!"

Ryouga's face suddenly went straight. "What, no jokes? I thought we were burying the hatchet?" He then turned back to face his console, grumbling a bit darkly.

Goku, meanwhile, had gotten the med kit from the side of the bridge and pulled out a dermal regenerator. Ranma winced as Goku applied the tool to Ranma's wounds.

"Ss! Ow! Listen… Ryouga… sorry, man. I just… can't understand women. I didn't… mean ta snap at you. In all fairness, you ain't the one I'm frustrated with."

Ryouga turned back to Ranma. After staring at him for a few seconds, he gave a nod. "…Apology accepted, then." He turned back to the console and continued whatever he was doing before.

Ranma sighed and stood there as Goku kept going.

"I appreciate your concern, number one, but I'll be fine."

"Hold still!" Goku instructed. "This might be uncomfortable, but it has to be done."

Ranma growled, crossed his arms and stood still. The turbolift doors opened yet again, and Akane's chief assistant, Doctor McCoy stepped onto the bridge. He walked over to Ranma, med kit in hand and relieved Goku.

"I'll take it from here, Commander."

Goku stepped away from Ranma and let the doctor go to work. McCoy pulled out his tricorder and scanned Ranma.

"Fractured collar bone, two broken ribs and a pelvis fracture." He mused. "God, that woman can do impressive things when she's mad!"

"Impressive to whom, doc?" Ranma asked in monotone.

McCoy chuckled as he pulled out a hypospray and injected Ranma with something. A cooling warmth flooded Ranma's veins, and he sighed in relief. Then, McCoy pulled out his own, obviously more sophisticated Dermal Regenerator and went to work. Within seconds, he was closing up his med kit and gave Ranma a pat on the shoulder.

"There you are, Captain. Good as new!"

"Thanks, McCoy," Ranma replied. McCoy, who had started to walk back towards the turbolift, stopped in his tracks and turned back to Ranma with a bit of a pensive expression.

"…Call me Bones…" he answered. With that, he turned back to the turbolift and vanished into it.

Ranma watched as he left, chuckled to himself, and then returned to the command chair to close up shop for the night.

* * *

Goku walked through the halls of the ship with satisfaction. There was always something about the day that could make him smile. Whether or not it had royally sucked, he could always find the faint shine and pull it free from all the trash. He let out a sigh of content as he came to his quarters and stepped inside. He unzipped his tunic and removed his com badge, placing it on the red undershirt as he sloughed his tunic over a chair. 

His computer beeped at him, letting him know there was a message waiting for him. Goku walked over to his desk and sat down, giving the computer console a tap. The screen lit up with the Starfleet symbol, just before an image of Chi Chi appeared on the screen, a smile brightly writ over her face.

"Hi, honey!" The recording began. "I know right now you're probably loving the day up as you always do. I just wanted to drop you a little message to let you know what's been going on the last two days. The Centaur has been patrolling the Cardassian border, as you remember. Captain Krillin had me run the senior staff through some crazy war games scenarios earlier today. He's always so worried that we're gonna get caught off guard one of these days. I suppose it is better to be prepared.

"Gohan got in touch with me yesterday. He still operates his civilian Fleetyards, but he was saying something about getting a huge change in the action? I'm still not too sure what he meant by that, but he said we'd know in a day or two. As usual, Trunks hasn't left is side through any of it.

"Goten's been doing really well in the school on board the Centaur. He's been flying through his courses, and I'm starting to think that, maybe, I should be pushing him into career education, like we were doing with Gohan."

Goku winced a little at this, shaking his head in disbelief as he laughed casually at the though of Goten all dressed up in fancy outfits like the ones Chi Chi used to make Gohan wear. No, he'd have to include how bad of an idea he thought that was in his reply.

"I miss you, Goku," The recording continued. "I'm still a year away from the end of this tour of duty, but after the time off, I think I might want to keep working under Krillin. He's a fabulous captain, and from the sounds of things, our next leg in space will be crossing your path several times over the span of a few months, so I'll get to see you way more this way as well!

"My heart is with you, Goku! Now go out there and show 'em what a Starfleet Saiyan can really do!"

Chi Chi blew a kiss at the screen, and it blipped off. Goku hit the kill switch on the computer and let out another sigh of content. It was always good to know things were going so well with his family and friends!

"Well," he spoke to himself. "Might as well do my workouts before I shower!"

* * *

Ranma sat in his stretch chair reading report pads to himself. If there was one thing he hated about being Captain, it was the paperwork! He groaned his way through it with disdain, and as he finished the last report to himself, he noticed the pounding headache he had. 

As far as first days went, this one sucked the big one!

His door buzzer went off.

"Come," Ranma called. The doors to his quarters slid open, and he was shocked to find Akane on the other side. Her face was slightly flushed, and he could tell that something was bugging her.

"Akane?" He questioned, not sure why she was showing up at HIS door instead of the counselor's. She walked slowly into the room and sat on the single chair opposite the table between them.

"Ranma," she began. "I… need you to tell me… my dad's not really responsible for all this… is he?"

Pity swelled in Ranma's chest, and he found himself sitting forward like nothing else mattered to him.

"I could tell you that, 'Kane, but I wouldn't know if it was the truth or not."

Akane sniffled before trying to cover it up with a half-hearted giggle.

"Look at this, I'm crying!" She wiped the tears away quickly, giving her head a little shake.

"You're worried," Ranma spoke quietly. "I don't blame ya! I don't see your father as bein' the type of man who could just do this without good reason, Akane. I think that something is influencin' your dad's decisions. He believes he's doin' the right thing. Right now, that's not up to us ta question."

"I know, I know!" Akane shot back, quickly running a hand through her hair. "It's just… so frustrating to think about! I mean, I know my dad's not capable of this kind of crap, but… but he's doing it and… and I don't know… how I feel about that!!"

While she was choking out her words in some rushed string, Ranma had stood up and moved quickly behind her chair. He immediately began to massage her shoulders as he hushed her, his mind completely relinquishing control over his limbs to something else.

"Akane," his soothing voice made her close her eyes as his hands went to work. "I can't say anythin' to make ya feel better, but I can promise you that, if anything should endanger your father, we'll be the first ones there ta help him. Right now, we just gotta play this thing out 'til reasons for it all show themselves. Then we can worry about the whys. OK?"

_OhmyGod… What the HELL am I doin'?!? I'mdeadI'mdeadI'mdeadI'mdead…_

Akane had barely registered Ranma's words as her eyes drifted shut.

_I… can't believe he's doing this! But… Oh, GOD that feels soooooo gooood……_

"…Ranma," she cooed quietly.

"…Yeah?" he finally replied. _Here it comes! I'm gonna die!! It was nice knowin' ya, life!!_

"Thank you," she trailed off.

Ranma's hands slowed a little as he realized exactly what had just happened, and he was shocked to notice that he was still massaging Akane's shoulders, working his way slowly in towards her upper back instead of being knocked through a few bulkheads. Seconds ticked by slowly before he finally decided to just keep going for now. It was making her… well, jello… and it was actually making him feel a little better as well.

Unable to say anything else, he just continued to let his hands work as Akane let small murmurs of approval pass her throat, her eyes closed and her mouth opening and closing a little every time Ranma hit the right spot.

"…You're welcome, 'Kane."

* * *

::Eyes squeezed shut:: please tell me it didn't suck... 

Only your reviews can save my sanity, folks::grins:: Hit me!

MattSaotome


	5. Chapter 4: First Strike

I'm Back! OK, so the last episode saw our young Captain giving the woman of his dreams a massage to calm her down.

Ranma: Bite Me, Matt!!

Down, boy. Anyways, I've drank a half dozen red bull, and continued the madness from where it left off. Things are gonna start heating up now, and you'll get to see some combat action going on in this one.

Read on, and I hope you like it!!

MattSaotome

* * *

Chapter 4

First Strike

Ranma stirred in his bed uncomfortably. The night had come to a very quick close for him, yet he felt no closure from the events of the day before. He quickly ran an open hand over his face, and small traces of clammy sweat clung to his palm. He grunted in disapproval as he sat up. The covers fell from his body, revealing that he was shirtless, but still wearing his uniform pants. Well toned muscles flexed uncontrollably as Ranma's body attempted to flush the sleep from his bloodstream.

"Computer, time?" Ranma asked in a low whisper. The computer took the obvious next course and replied at a low level of volume.

"23:52"

"Christ…" Ranma cursed. He'd only been asleep for a little over an hour. He looked groggily around the room. Nothing had changed, of course. He wasn't sure why he had expected it to until his eyes rested upon the stretch chair in the other corner of the room where Akane lay sleeping, still in full uniform. Slowly, the events of the evening came back to him, and he remembered how Akane had come to him, distraught and needing a friend.

He threw the covers the rest of the way off the bed and turned to sit on the edge. He rubbed his face again and stifled a yawn. As tired as he was, he couldn't seem to get to sleep. He remembered massaging Akane to help her relax, and quickly recalled her falling asleep in the stretch chair as he did so.

_Talk about adding a new one to the strange and very freaky department!_ Ranma thought to himself. _Akane coming to ME over the counselor is one thing, but actually letting me massage her to calm her down??_

Ranma shook his head to clear his mind and stood up slowly. He went over a bunch of different things that he could do in the dead of night. He could go to the bridge, but that lot was probably so bored that they wouldn't let him leave after he arrived. He could go to Engineering, but Vegeta's men probably still thought he was gonna castrate them one at a time if they screwed up. He didn't need to be walking around a bunch of people that were afraid of him. He thought about going to check up on the Wildcards and see their 'Battle Ops' for himself, but once again, he decided that this could wait until tomorrow.

He moved to the other end of the room and grabbed his com badge off his tunic. He quickly slapped it onto the hip of his uniform pants and exited his quarters. Perhaps he just needed to wear himself out. Giving a small nod to himself at his latest idea, he looked down the corridor in either direction, shrugged, then picked one and took off in a jog. He reached down and tapped his com badge.

"Computer, track the distance this badge travels every half kilometer and notify me at each increment."

There was a bip from his badge before the computer responded.

"Confirmed." Then, in true 24th century computer fashion, it made a guess. "Do you wish your heart rate and speed to be monitored as well?"

Ranma nearly tripped over his feet. _What?!_

"Uh… no, that's… OK." Ranma answered.

"Affirmative." The computer replied. Within moments his badge bipped at him again. "First marker. Distance traveled: half a kilometer."

Ranma mentally acknowledged the badge and continued to run. He flew past a couple of night shift crewmen. They regarded him a bit strangely before recognizing him as the captain.

"Uh…Evening, Captain." The woman said.

Ranma waved a 'hello' to them and just kept on going. He rounded the next junction and slowed down at the next door he saw. He came to a stop but continued to jog on the spot, staring at the panel beside the large doors. The screen flashed back at him the words he was so sure he had seen.

'Running Training Program Goku 1'

A small smile appeared on his face as he realized he wasn't the only one still awake from the day shift. He stopped his jogging and turned to face the holodeck entrance. The doors spread open to welcome him.

Inside, he could see Goku… sort of. He was moving so fast that he would occasionally blur right out of ordinary sight, and Ranma found himself startled when he'd reappear half way across the room as he slowed back down. Goku was obviously training his mind for reaction time as there was no holographic sparring partner anywhere in sight. Ranma chuckled for a second, and then began to step onto the holodeck.

The simulation waited for him to be completely in the room before allowing the scenario to affect him. As the doors closed and vanished into the simulation behind him, Ranma was suddenly slammed to the floor hard, all the air being forced out of his lungs upon impact. At first, he thought that Goku had attacked him, but when he heard the sound of Goku still moving through the air, he came to another conclusion.

"Wow!" He huffed, fighting hard as he slowly refilled his lungs. He put both his hands palms down on the floor and pushed hard as he slowly but surely rose up, then began to pull his knees in under his body to try and stand. "What a bad case of gravity!"

Goku heard the sound of another person in the room and stopped in mid air, just hovering there as he looked down at Ranma.

"Oh…" he was impressed as he watched his captain slowly stumble to his feet.

"What is this, Commander?" Ranma asked hard as he finally staggered into a standing position. "Ten times gravity?"

Goku slowly shook his head with a smile as he came back to the floor. "Heh, I think you're a lot stronger than you either realize or give yourself credit for, Captain. Computer, current gravity setting?"

The computer chirped back, "Gravity intensity at thirty two times norm."

The color faded from Ranma's face, and he had second thoughts about walking over to where commander Goku was now standing.

"Jesus," he mused. "The skin should be peelin' off my bones!!"

Goku laughed. "Like I said, you're a lot stronger than you think you are!"

Ranma almost painfully brought up his left arm to scratch at the back of his head. 32 times gravity was itchy. "Really?"

"Computer," Goku called again. "Reduce gravity level to ten times norm and continue simulation."

There was a chirp of confirmation, and suddenly, Ranma was standing tall. It wasn't until that moment that he realized just how hard he had still been fighting to stand up as his muscles stretched a bit and he grew nearly four inches.

"Wow," Ranma breathed. As a tester, he began to give the open room swings and kicks, jumping around almost as easily as Goku had been just moments before. Goku just stood there and watched him with a look of pride on his face. None of his previous captains had ever been able to even set foot into his training sessions without being rushed to sickbay, but here was Ranma, jumping around the room like it was nothing! Granted it was only ten times norm, but no one else save for a handful of his friends and the only other Saiyan alive, Vegeta, had ever been able to even handle five times norm without turning and leaving the room in exhaustion.

"Captain," Goku called to him across the holodeck. Ranma was quickly back at Goku's side.

"Yeah?"

"You do realize that you're defying the laws of physics for over 99 of humanity, yes?"

Ranma went a little red before giving a small nod. "I uh… kinda noticed that, yeah."

"It amazes me that you had no idea of the magnitude of your strength." Goku praised him. "How would you like to be my new sparring partner in the evenings?"

Ranma thought carefully about this, and then decided that there would be no harm in it.

"Sure, Commander!" he replied.

"Alright!!" Goku cheered. Ranma could tell that he had been wanting of a sparring partner, and that burned a new question in him.

"Um, commander? Why don't you and Vegeta spar?"

Goku nearly lost his smile, but kept a small hint of it at the corner of his lips.

"Well… there's really only one way to answer that." He replied. "Vegeta can do everything that I can do. Keep that in mind. Computer, place a titanium bulkhead piece in the center of the room. Five feet high, starship hull thickness. Exclude Captain Saotome from the control environment and increase gravity to five hundred times norm."

Ranma was about to bark out objections to his Commander about the intensity of the gravity level, but before he could get a word out, the computer beeped confirmation. The room around him began to glow a deep red as the gravity increased.

Ranma could tell that Goku was starting to struggle with it, and he watched as his first officer was brought to his knees by the new intensity. Still, the skin did not tear from his bones as Ranma had expected. Instead, Goku just stayed on his knees and put his arms out to catch his upper body as it fell to the floor as well.

"Remember," Goku was grunting. "What I showed you in the ready room?"

Ranma nodded, and then followed it with a quick "Yes" when he realized that Goku couldn't look at him.

"That's what Vegeta and I call becoming a Super Saiyan!" With those words, Goku let out a cry and that same golden battle aura surrounded him. What happened next nearly made Ranma faint. Goku hopped to his feet like a two year old skipping down a paved road!

Ranma recovered his jaw from the floor.

"Now to answer your question," Goku smiled. He turned to face the piece of titanium bulkhead. He slowly brought his arm up and held his hand out in front of him, opening it fingers up to aim at the metal. With nothing more than a slight grunt, a massive ball of energy leapt from Goku's hand and made almost immediate contact with the metal. There was a wild explosion, and Ranma watched Goku just stand there as tiny bits of the metal flying around the room now bounced off him like nothing to fizzle into non-existence against the environmental force field that surrounded Ranma. When the smoke cleared, there was clearly nothing left of the titanium bulkhead.

"If Vegeta and I spar, there'll be no ship left when we're done. I need to spar with someone who knows how to control themselves, and that's not Vegeta!"

Ranma just nodded slowly, still amazed that there was nothing left of a Titanium bulkhead! Sure, he had cracked the stuff before, but he'd never EVER blown it up!!

"Computer, return environment to its previous settings." Goku instructed. The red-ish glow of the room faded back to the normal colors, and the bits of titanium vanished along with Ranma's safety field. Ranma stepped up to Goku, who was still in Super Saiyan form.

"Remind me never to piss you off," he laughed.

"No problem," Goku laughed as well. "Although I would like to see where you stand in strength and all that."

Ranma shrugged. That was easy. "Computer, another titanium bulkhead, please."

Before them, a new piece of bulkhead materialized, matching the proportions of the one Goku had blown up exactly. Ranma stepped up to it, reeled back and punched it as hard as he could. A slight pain shot up his arm, but the results he'd expected to happen did. The metal spider-cracked from the impact of his fist. He turned back to Goku.

"I also know several Ki energy attacks, but definitely nothing as intense as yours. Oh, and I can't fly."

Goku nodded his extreme approval with a grin to his captain. "It's a good place to start from! Ready?"

Ranma wasn't sure what for, but he just nodded instead. Whatever Goku had in store for him, he'd figure it out and learn from it! As far as he was concerned, if it was a fighting style, he could learn it! He always did!

"Bring it on, Commander!"

* * *

"Sir!" The nameless officer approached behind him. 

"What is it, Lackey?" the man's voice was thin, yet powerful. His impatience was growing all too apparent.

"We've been monitoring the Orion Syndicate's borders as you instructed. A federation starship is approaching them now."

"Ah," The man's voice sounded triumphant. "A response. Excellent. What kind of starship is it?"

Silence greeted his question. Grey wings long and slender like a cockroaches flitted in aggravation at the lack of an answer, making a dull buzz as they rubbed together.

"I asked you a question, subordinate!" He hollered out.

"We… we don't know, sir. It's not in the library computer."

"You… Don't… Know…" he grit his teeth and forced the words out. The only warning that an attack was coming was the sudden surge of muscle under his green skin, and the nameless officer's throat was in his grasp. Slow seconds ticked by as the underling made gurgling noises, followed by a sickening crack and his body going limp.

The man tossed the now dead officer to the side of the room.

"I do not seek excuses," he spat out at the two officers that had been standing behind the first. "Get me a schematic of that ship NOW!"

"Y-y-yes, sir!" The two stammered in unison before turning and fleeing in fear.

The man turned back to the readouts before him and went back to pondering whatever it was he had been before he was interrupted. Without much of a second thought, he quickly glanced over at the dead officer's corpse. It began to smolder and quickly ignited in flames at the man's stare.

"Come, Starfleet…" he mused, turning back to the monitor. "Show me what you're truly made of!"

* * *

The sound of the doors to Ranma's quarters opening at two in the morning made Akane stir. She rubbed her eyes for a second, and then slowly sat up on the stretch chair. 

"Did I wake you up, 'Kane?" Ranma asked. His breathing was hard, and as Akane's blurry vision began to clear, she could see scrapes and bruises on his body.

"R… Ranma? What… happened?" She yawned now, unable to help herself. Her arms sloughed back to her sides, and she took a minute to enjoy the fact that she could stare at the shirtless Ranma without him thinking it was any more than sleep draining from her system.

"I was sparring with Commander Goku," Ranma answered as he removed his com badge and placed it on his nightstand. "Have you been asleep all this time?"

Akane nodded slowly and let out another yawn. "Which is what I think I should go back to."

Ranma chuckled. "It's only 0200. I think you should too. What time should I wake ya up?"

Akane shrugged meaninglessly and slumped back down on the stretch chair.

"Akane?" Ranma questioned. She didn't answer him.

_She's back asleep already!_ Ranma mused.

"…Unbelievable…" He shook his head as he made his way back for his bed. Time to get some sleep of his own.

* * *

Ryouga tossed and turned uneasily. He was having a nightmare. In his dream, he was on the bridge, and the ship was engaged in battle. The ship was struck by blast after blast, and consoles were exploding all around him. The most horrible part of it all was when the fires broke out and the suppression systems activated, spraying water everywhere. True to his Jusenkyo curse, Ryouga turned into a little black piglet at the helm station. Suddenly, the rest of the bridge officers were hovering over him. 

"Awww… What's wrong, P-chan?" Ranma taunted Ryouga.

"Poor little piggy can't handle it?" Mousse was over him as well.

"Definitely too cute to fly a starship!" Goku was laughing hard.

"Ryouga…" there was Akane. She hovered over him larger than anyone else. "You pervert! You have no honor!!"

"NOOOOOO!!!!!!!!" Ryouga shot up in bed, sweat pouring from him. As he gasped for air, only one thought ran through his brain. As always, the same thought that had gotten him in trouble countless times in his life.

"Computer, locate Akane Tendo." He started to relax his breathing.

"Akane Tendo is in Captain Saotome's quarters," the computer replied.

Ryouga's pupils shrank to pin marks.

"WHAT!???"

He shot out of bed, quickly donning his uniform. That done, he leapt for the exit to his quarters and smashed the doors off their hinges without even waiting for them to open. He screeched straight out across the corridor before starting to run down it.

"Ranma, you Cad!!!" He hollered as he ran.

* * *

"Sir!" another nameless officer got his attention. This one's voice seemed much more confident than the last. 

"Yes, what is it?" he replied.

"I have the schematics that you asked for." The officer handed him a computer chip, which he inserted into the station before him. A readout of the Wildstar appeared on the screen before him, and he began to study it as the officer began to speak again.

"She's a full hundred meters longer than a sovereign class. We've ascertained that she holds a crew compliment of 1600. All officers, no civilians. We were unable to penetrate her defensive systems with our scans due to heavy shielding in the ships more sensitive areas. I apologize for this failure."

This officer impressed him. Not only had he brought him the schematics regardless of their incomplete nature, he had also assumed responsibility for their inadequacy.

"Very well, I accept your apology. What is your name and rank?"

"Lieutenant Tomerand, sir." The officer replied, just as confidently.

"Very well, Lieutenant Tomerand. Since you seem to show the most promise and have taken full responsibility for your actions, I am making you my second. You may take your place, number two."

Tomerand stood proud. He knew that words meant little to his commander, so he simply kept his thoughts to himself and took his new station on the bridge with nothing more than an "Aye, Sir!"

A moment passed as the man looked over the schematics in thought. Tomerand wondered what was going through his mind, but before he could announce his curiosity, an action that might have cost him much more than his new post anyways, the man pointed a finger back at him.

"Order the raiders to attack," he said simply.

Without delay, Tomerand punched a few commands.

"It is done."

"Time to see what the Federation's new face yields…"

* * *

Ranma pulled the glass of warm milk from the replicator and quickly downed it with satisfaction. He made his way over to his bed and sat on it hard, thoroughly exhausted. In his mind, he went back to the training he had been going through with Goku. It had been hard, to say the least. Mind you, the easiest part of it all was learning to fly… 

_"Now, Captain. I want you to sit cross-legged here." As Goku instructed Ranma, he followed his own instructions as well. He sat cross-legged across from Ranma._

_"Every living thing has energy inside them. The first thing you have to do before I can teach you to fly is learn how to control that energy instead of just focusing and releasing it."_

_That said, Goku brought his hands together in a wide open cup in front of himself. He closed his eyes and continued to speak._

_"Search for the energy deep inside yourself, almost a slight pulling feeling… I assume you already know how to do that."_

_Ranma followed suit and closed his eyes, and a moment passed between the two in silence._

_"I found it," he breathed, opening his eyes and focusing on the feeling to keep it there. Goku opened his eyes as well._

_"Excellent! Then just bring it out." As he said the last words, a light began to glow in the center of the hand cup Goku had made. It radiated bright, and Ranma was almost too fascinated with it, nearly losing the tugging feeling. He'd seen Ki energy released in large volumes before, but he'd never seen anyone literally holding a palm-full of their life energy out in front of them. He quickly steadied his mind and focused on bringing the pull out of his body. He watched in awe as a light began to surge in his palms, and was soon glowing bright, though nowhere near as bright as Goku's was._

_"…Amazing," Goku was astonished. "You learn so fast…"_

_"So this… tiny shiny ball… is gonna help me fly?" Ranma said carefully. Goku chuckled._

_"Yeah. Now that you know not only how to direct your energy outside of your body, but also take total control over it, it's as simple as placing the energy under yourself and using it to propel you."_

_"I see," Ranma mused, hardly able to contain his enthusiasm at continuing._

As Ranma came back to himself, he sighed with content. He giggled internally as he remembered flying around the holodeck as if he had always done it. Before he could continue his train of thought, however, he looked down and realized that he was floating a couple of inches off his bed.

"Heh… cool!" Ranma chuckled. His joy was short lived, however, as the ship rocked violently, and Ranma could hear the sounds of an explosion. The lights in his quarters shorted out for a brief second before coming back on.

Akane sat up groggily. "What… What's going on?"

Ranma was on his feet the moment the ship was hit. Short seconds flew by when another impact occurred. This must have been right beside Ranma's quarters as the ceiling exploded.

Directly above Akane.

"AKANE!!" He hollered as a large fragment of bulkhead plummeted towards her. Ranma was beside the stretch chair in an instant with outstretched arms, holding the piece of bulkhead up by his palms.

_Damn! When did I get THAT fast?!_

"Shit!" Akane breathed, realizing suddenly that she had come a mere second away from her death. She looked at Ranma with awe. His upper muscles were strained outward, and he was grunting hard to hold up a piece of the roof that she guessed must have weighed well over two tons!

"A-kane, m-move!"

It only took her a moment to understand the pain he was in, but before she could move, the roof piece he was holding sparked with an electrical short, sending glowing embers onto her uniform. She gave a cry and quickly bolted to the other side of the room, ripping the uniform off just as it began to burn. She stomped it out in a hurry. Ranma breathed out slowly as he lowered the bulkhead piece as close to the floor as he could before flipping it off his hands to come crashing down on the chair, crushing it under it's weight.

Ranma breathed hard as he stood back up.

"Bridge, Status!" He nearly hollered.

"We're under attack by Orion Raiders," Matt Hummer's voice sounded over the com. "They caught us a bit off guard, but shields are in place and holding. I've ordered evasive maneuvers to the helmsman until you get up here!"

"Understood." Ranma replied quickly. He looked over to Akane, keeping his eyes on hers as he quickly noticed she was shirtless. "Are you OK?"

Akane was still a little shook up, but she nodded. "I should be."

"Listen, I have ta get to the bridge. You can replicate yourself a new uniform here, then get ta sickbay! All hands, red alert! Senior officers report ta the bridge!"

As Ranma finished his sentence, he dashed out the door, grabbing his tunic from the chair as he left. Akane went straight for the replicator to request a new uniform shirt and tunic.

* * *

Ryouga staggered in the corridor as the explosions hit. He bounced off the wall a time or two before regaining his footing. 

"We're under attack…" he mused. _They must have raised shields, the explosions are subdued now!_

He looked around the corridor, realizing something that always happened to him had just happened again. His face slowly melted into panic as he looked from doorway to doorway.

"Where am I now!??" He shouted in frustration. Then Ranma's voice came over the com system. "All hands, red alert! Senior officers report ta the bridge!" Almost on cue, the doorway closest to Ryouga opened, and to his surprise, a shirtless Ranma came running out, slapping a com badge to his uniform pants, a scrunched up tunic in his other hand.

"Ranma?" Ryouga was a little confused. Ranma turned to look at him.

"What, Ryouga?" Ryouga turned his head slowly to look inside Ranma's quarters. A stunned expression settled on his face as he saw Akane pulling a new uniform top over her obviously naked upper torso. He shook his head from side to side before his expression gave way to anger and he grit his teeth.

"RANMA!!!" He hollered, intent on throwing himself at his captain and beating the life out of him. Akane heard Ryouga's voice and turned to see him leap at Ranma.

"Ryouga, you stupid!" Ranma shot back, dodging the lieutenant commander's punches like they were child's play. "We're under attack by Orion Raiders! I realize you wanna beat the shit out of me but CAN'T IT WAIT?"

Ryouga stopped his assault, yielding to Ranma's logic.

"You're right," Ryouga was breathing hard. _When did Ranma get so good!?_

Ranma took a second to straighten out before shooting an annoyed look at Ryouga. "Of course I am. Now let's go."

Ryouga kept looking back and forth between Ranma and Ranma's quarters.

"Y.. Bu… I… Ranma, wait up!!" His captain had already taken off in the direction of the turbolift. At least if Ryouga followed him, he wouldn't get lost.

* * *

The deck under Lieutenant Nick Chesterton shuddered a little again. 

"Maintain evasive maneuvers, Mr. Hummer," He instructed. A simple "Aye, sir" came from the helm station where Ensign Matt Hummer was seated. The turbolift doors on the left side of the bridge opened to reveal Ranma and Ryouga, who both made beeline's for their posts. Ryouga relieved Ensign Hummer and quickly took his seat. Ranma stepped over to the command chair and looked to Lt. Chesterton quickly.

"Report." Ranma quickly threw on his tunic as Nick answered him.

"Enemy attacks aren't having any real effect on our shields, Captain. I figured it best to just avoid them until you got up here."

"Thank you." Ranma said plainly, not taking his eyes off the viewscreen as Nick got out of his chair and he sat down.

"What's our current pattern, Ryouga?"

"Helm is locked on evasive pattern Riker Omega."

"Good. Run the Riker series 'til we know where we stand."

"No problem!" Ryouga cheered. _What the hell's a Riker Series? …Aah, I'll just do cool barrel rolls and stuff!_

The turbolift doors on the right side of the bridge opened, and Mousse, Goku, Dana and Shampoo poured out, heading for their posts.

"Tactical analysis, Mousse." Ranma instructed. "Commander Jorgensen, just keep the shields cyclin' for now. Shampoo, reinforce structural integrity. Those first couple of shots blew some deck plates loose between decks seven an' eight."

Three 'Aye, sir's in a row floated Ranma's way, and he continued to face the viewscreen, waiting for Mousse's tactical analysis. He watched as one raider passed and fired green phaser shots at them. The Wildstar bucked lightly underneath him, but he could feel the natural reactions happening such as the inertial dampeners kicking in and the shield generators hum as they absorbed the phaser fire with ease.

"Four raiders, Captain," Mousse spoke up. "All of them Jar'bin class and armed to the teeth for Orions. Their current attack pattern poses no threat to us, nor do their weapons." Mousse looked up from his console with confusion. "Less annoying than mosquitos, really…"

Goku turned in his seat to face Ranma. "This doesn't make any sense, Captain. I know that we are to expect Romulan involvement, but sending four Jar'bin class raiders to attack us is suicide on their part. It will gain them nothing."

Ranma leaned forward a little.

"What will it gain them…" he mused to himself. He thought hard, trying to remember everything that Vegeta had told him about the ship's systems. Every weakness or soft spot or sensitive area… wait, that was it!

"Tactical information!" Ranma crowed.

Mousse looked at Ranma with confusion. "I… I just gave it to you."

Ranma shook his head in mild annoyance. "No, no, Mousse, I didn't mean you, I meant them!"

Shampoo was equally as confused, and was regarding Ranma like a three year old Bolian holding a plasma torch. "Shampoo no understand either."

"They're pea shootin' us up so we fire back and they get to find out what our tactical capabilities are 'cause their sensors can't penetrate the shieldin' around our sensitive areas!!" Ranma nearly hollered in explanation. Mousse and Shampoo slapped their foreheads. Goku 'Ahhh'ed in understanding. Ryouga just turned slowly to face the rest of them with a look plastered across his face that seemed to say 'you were all born yesterday, weren't you?!'

"I knew what he meant." Ryouga winced and turned back to his station as three separate voices sternly replied with a "Shaddup!"

Mousse just shrugged. "Well, shall we give 'em what they want? Please? Huh? Can I shoot something now? Huh? Please? Please?"

Ranma sighed with a laugh as he turned to Mousse. "Okay, Mousse. But only the abridged version, got it? Don't use full power."

"HAHAH!!" Mousse laughed as he went to work pressing buttons. He'd wanted to do this ever since he'd heard the weapons compliment in the briefing room!

On the viewscreen, green phaser light was responded to with the bright blue power of the type seven phaser banks' replies, and the twinkle of several quantum torpedoes. Before them, the first raider blew apart rather effortlessly. As the debris floated in different directions, Ranma found himself turning his head to the side slightly. The debris field appeared to be… rotating clockwise!

"Hey, Mr. P! Keep it level, will ya?" Ranma shot out to his helmsman. "I mean, I know there's no up or down in space and all that, but do ya have ta do barrel rolls?"

Ryouga turned to face him. "I'm trying, dammit!" Then he turned back front. "This isn't as easy as it looks, ya know."

Ranma sighed with a bit of a smile as the ship 'leveled' and took off after the second raider. The screen wavered to and fro as Ryouga struggled to match the raider's trajectory.

"Shit…" Ryouga cursed as he fought. "Rrrgh! Screw this! Computer, access manual steering column!"

The computer chirped, and his panel opened as a joystick rose from it. He pressed the appropriate keys to transfer the controls and wrapped his hand around it.

"Ahhh," he sighed. "Much easier!"

Ranma laughed out loud. "Must be all the video gaming eh, P-chan?"

Ryouga turned quickly in his seat.

"Don't call me that!!"

"Watch it!" Ranma sat straight up and pointed at the screen. Ryouga had bumped the joystick the wrong way and veered them almost directly into the side of the raider.

"Oops!" Ryouga clumsily regained control and eventually put them back on the Orion's tail.

"Keep 'er there, Ryouga!" Mousse hollered happily across the bridge as he went to work. A second barrage leapt forth on the viewscreen, and the second raider went up in flames.

It was about this time that the ship rocked hard and fast, blowing out a few control circuits. Ranma was on his feet in an instant.

"WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT!??" he hollered.

"TRICOBALT TORPEDO!" Mousse yelled over the hiss of a ruptured coolant line. Within seconds, Shampoo had the line redirected and the hissing stopped.

"Tricobalt torpedo!?" Ranma was dumbfounded. The Orions had never fooled around with tricobalt technology before! The last report had their most advanced weaponry listed as a low yield quantum torpedo.

"We don't wanna get hit with too many of those puppies!" Dana called out from the back of the bridge. "That blew out a couple more control circuits around the ship!"

"Shields holding at 88." Mousse informed Ranma.

"Minor damage to structural integrity!" Shampoo reported.

Another explosion rocked the ship. A side station exploded, sending the crewman at it flying back out of his seat. He slumped to the ground, obviously unconscious.

"Bridge to Sickbay! Medical emergency!" Goku called out, rushing to the crewman's side to check for a pulse.

"They're on their way, Commander!" Akane's reply came.

"Shields at 76!" Mousse called out.

"Minor damage to inertial dampeners, Captain!" Dana spoke up. "Nothin we can't handle yet!"

"Structural integrity holding." Shampoo seemed to be calming down a little.

Ranma shook his head and looked to his first officer. "We have ta assume that, if their weapons have improved, so have their shields an' defensive systems…"

Goku stared at Ranma for a quick second before following his train of thought and leaving the crewman's side, heading for his chair.

"Ryouga, get us back on their tails! Mousse!" He hollered as he sat down. "Read 'em the riot act!"

An evil grin split Mousse's face.

"BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHH!!!!"

Ryouga had them chasing after the third raider with intense difficulty. It seemed their maneuverability had also increased dramatically, but it still wasn't anything the Wildstar couldn't handle. However, Ryouga's singular talent for not knowing north from subway meant that it took them almost five minutes to find the next raider. Pleased with himself to no end, Ryouga smiled and called back to Mousse.

"They're all yours, Mousse!"

Further evil cackling came from the tactical station, and within seconds an assault nothing like the last two came pouring out of the Wildstar. Photon torpedos mixed with quantum torpedos reigned in succession with the blue glow of type 7 phasers and the red glow of type six phasers. A sound of awe went up from most of the bridge crew, and each well aimed weapon smashed into its target at full power.

The raider, however, was still there at the end of it.

"Shampoo, report!" Ranma spun to look at the Amazon. After a quick second, she looked back at him.

"Their shields almost gone, they no have any more power to weapons."

"Mousse!" Goku signaled.

"Aye, aye!" Another smaller barrage was thrown at the raider, and it glowed for a brief second before exploding madly. A shock wave swept over the Wildstar, causing her to yaw heavily.

On the bridge, a few panels were spitting sparks, but there was minimal damage all round.

"Analysis, Shampoo!" Ranma looked to her again.

"That prove it!" Shampoo nearly crowed. "That explosion caused by breach of Romulan style warp core! Orions must have waited to activate them until combined with new weapons!"

The turbolift doors opened, and McCoy ran onto the bridge, followed closely by another medical officer. He moved to the side of the fallen crewman and went to work.

Ranma slapped the arm of his chair with satisfaction.

"That proves the Romulans're involved!" he crowed.

"Not quite." Ryouga looked back from the helm. "That just proves that they managed to get hold of a Romulan warp core. It doesn't necessarily mean the Romulans gave it to them!"

Ranma stopped short for a second. _My God, he's right!_ "Shit!"

"Nice try though," Ryouga finished.

McCoy turned to Ranma. "We've stabilized him, Captain. We can't move him around much, though, so we'll be beaming down to sickbay from here."

Ranma nodded, and seconds later, the doctors and the crewman vanished in a transporter flurry that quickly faded away to nothing.

"Captain," Dana turned to face him. "We've repaired the damaged control circuits that were toasted when the Orions first attacked us with our shields down. Things should be returning to normal in about two seconds here."

Ranma was a bit confused. Returning to normal? What did she mean by –

"Captain," Mousse looked stunned. "Shields are back up to full power and are holding!"

"Ranma," Now it was Shampoo's turn. "Structural integrity returning to normal!"

Ranma couldn't believe his ears, and he turned slowly to face commander Jorgensen.

"This is normal…? They've been takin' chunks out of us!"

Dana grinned. "Oh, don't give 'em too much credit, Captain. They just got lucky when they shot at us with our shields down. Those were major control circuits they blew out!"

Ranma was amazed. All the damage they had been taking on had been because of faulty shielding from damage sustained in the first two volleys of the battle. Volleys that he hadn't even been on the bridge for!

"Fu!" Ranma spat as he turned to Mousse. "Figures. Well, may as well finish what they started, Mousse."

Mousse grinned again. "With pleasure, Captain! Ryouga, find me somethin to shoot at!"

Ryouga chuckled and turned back to his console. "Piece of cake, dude!"

The reality of the situation, however, was that they would have had to travel all the way to Tibet for their cake! The Wildstar turned this way and that, and just when Ranma thought Ryouga had no idea which way was up, the last raider slid into view from the right side of the viewscreen.

"Commander," Ranma gestured to Goku, who gave a quick nod.

"End it, Mousse." He ordered.

Mousse's hands flew over his console again, and once more, a plethora of shots flew at the raider. It took on heavy damage, and one of the weapons ports exploded, taking half the raider's starboard wing with it.

"And to top it all off…" Mousse hit buttons now like he was composing a song, giving the last one a quick flick and snapping his fingers as he pulled back. The Wildstar gave a little buck as a very bright yellow ball shot towards the raider and blew it sky high.

Several 'Wow's lifted into the air on the bridge, but Mousse stood tall with his hands behind his back and the most adorable smile on his face.

"Right back atcha!" He finished.

Ranma looked over at Mousse. "Heh?"

"Tricobalt torpedo, sir." Mousse explained.

A couple of seconds floated by in silence, but soon everyone on the bridge began to chuckle. Their chuckles grew into laughter, which gradually petered out as Ranma turned his chair around to face Mousse.

"You certainly know how ta clean house, don't ya?" Ranma was still a little giggly. Mousse just held on to his chuckling in reply. He was interrupted, however, when his console beeped at him. He frowned down at it.

"What is it, Mousse?"

On the viewscreen behind Ranma, space began to waver. Ryouga just watched the shape form as his eyes went wide, his pupils shrank and he let his jaw fall a bit.

"…Big…"

"…ROMULAN WARBIRD, CAPTAIN!!!" Mousse barked suddenly. Ranma whipped around to face the viewscreen in surprise.

"K Kalax class!" Shampoo complimented Mousse's report as Ranma hopped out of his chair and jogged the couple of steps to the front of Shampoo's console. "They really bring out big guns now, Ranma!"

"What's a K Kalax?" Ranma turned to Goku. "I'm a little behind in Romulan warbird development."

Goku just looked at Ranma seriously. "One big bad mother of a ship!"

"How bad?" Ranma looked up at Shampoo again.

"Shield output estimated 330,000 terraquad. Lots of quantum torpedo on board, type six disruptor banks all over ship!"

"Very bad!" Ranma acknowledged. He quickly returned to his chair. "Well, number one, here we go again. Slow ta thrusters, Ryouga. Prepare evasive maneuvers."

As the helm responded, everyone faced the viewscreen in silence, waiting for something to happen. The minutes ticked by in total silence, save for the occasional instrument beep and the faint yet flighty sound of the alert panel under the viewscreen chirping. Ryouga shifted uncomfortably in his chair.

"Mousse?" Ranma almost whispered.

"Their shields are up, captain. They're armed to the teeth and ready. I don't know why they aren't doing anything…"

Ranma slowly stepped up behind Ryouga. Goku stood as well and came up beside his captain.

"All stop, Mr. Hibiki," Ranma said slowly.

Ryouga did as he was told without a word. Ranma only used last names when he meant business, unless you didn't have a last name. The Wildstar came to a shaky, almost hard stop, but no one really noticed. Instead, all eyes were on the unmoving Romulan Warbird on the viewscreen.

"What are they doing…" Ryouga mumbled cautiously, not wanting to jinx the lack of deadly weapon swapping.

Ranma just shook his head.

"Captain," Mousse sounded surprised.

"Yeah?" Ranma answered, still not turning away from the viewscreen.

"They're hailing us."

Ranma almost lost his footing. He took it in stride, however, and just ended up swaying back a bit.

"…Put 'em on screen." Ranma said.

The viewscreen flashed over to the inside of the Romulan vessel's bridge. A growl immediately passed through Goku's lips, and the Wildstar shuddered violently. Beside Ranma, Goku went Super Saiyan with a shout.

Ranma just stared at him. "Goku?"

Goku's eyes never left the screen. There was absolutely no mistaking that grey face… the green spotted skin and double-spiked head! Goku bared his teeth as he spat a single word through them. Ranma quickly realized that it was the creature's name.

"Cell!"

* * *

::Lets out held breath:: I think I've finally lost it! Mwahahahahahahaaaahh!!! 

No, but seriously, I don't know what posessed me to throw him in here. It just seemed to fit, I guess!

Well, let me know what you thought!

MattSaotome


	6. Chapter 5: All Good Things

Well, there's a couple of die-hard Akane fans out there (two in particular that I'm thinking about), that have pointed out to me my horrible mistake in excluding Akane's discovery of Ryouga's curse. And they are SO right!

So, I haven't changed much about this chapter from it's original posting, but some of it is re-written or added to, in order to bring to light the upcoming problems that our favorite helmsman and his... owner... are gonna be having!!

So about those two that I mentioned above... cheers, guys! This Bud's for you!

MattSaotome

* * *

Chapter 5

All Good Things…?

"You still remember me, Goku." Cell sounded oh so happy. "Of course, how could I forget you in return?"

"Still?!" Goku nearly spat. "You tried to kill my friends! You tried to destroy earth! How could I ever forget your face, you monster!"

Cell looked offended. "Such harsh words!" His hurt was obviously sarcastic.

Ranma was thoroughly confused now. He watched the exchange between this… man bug and his first officer without a clue. Ryouga was sitting uncomfortably at his station. He tried so hard to keep himself focused on his duties. At first, he'd thought they were going to engage in immediate combat, but now that it was obvious this guy just wanted to taunt them a bit, it was hard to keep his thoughts from drifting back to about twenty minutes earlier.

"What's goin' on, Number One?" Ranma asked, not taking his eyes off this 'Cell' character.

"This man is evil, Captain." Goku held nothing back from the image on the screen. "A few years back he launched a one man assault on earth and nearly took the planet out! Not before trying to humiliate and murder my closest friends and family, however!"

Ranma stood in silence. He knew in the back of his mind that the best man to deal with this new face was Goku. They obviously had past history, and Goku's personal experiences with Cell more than likely meant he knew what to expect from him.

"…The floor's all yours, Commander." Ranma said.

Ryouga was in another place entirely. He could see it all again as if he were still outside Ranma's quarters looking in. Akane, topless, slowly pulling her clothing down over her upper body. He remembered how she'd put the tunic on, looking exhausted from… God, he didn't even want to think what from! He remembered how she'd began to fix her hair as quickly yet carefully as possible.

"Thank you, Ranma." Goku replied. "What is it you want, Cell? Why are you here?"

"I'm not so sure I want to tell you that." Cell grinned. "But if you'd care to speculate, I'm listening!"

Goku growled again, and the Wildstar shuddered a little once more. "I'm not playing your mind games today, Cell!" Goku hollered at the viewscreen. "I want answers from you, not riddles and insults!"

"Ha hah!" Cell laughed. "Answers? Answers to what? Would you like to know if I'm involved in the Orion's little game with your Chief of Staff? Or are you more curious as to whether or not they acquired their new technology from me? You should already know that the Romulan senate would never be involved with such petty weaklings!"

Ryouga snarled in impatience. He'd completely lost focus on what was happening in the real world around him, and as he came to, he slapped a button on his console that closed the transmission, cutting Cell off in the middle of his evil laughter.

"But now I AM the senate! HAH HAHAAHHAA-"

Ryouga swung round in his chair to face Ranma.

"Ranma! We have to talk about this!!"

He stopped short at the look on Ranma's face. He was staring at Ryouga as if the helmsman had just committed murder right before his eyes. Taking a second to look around the room, Ryouga realized that EVERYONE was staring at him like that!

"…What…?" He asked in a small voice.

Ranma forced his words out as carefully as he could.

"You… do realize… you just… Hung Up… on possibly THE… Baddest… Bastard… In The Whole GALAXY!??? HOW DO YA THINK HE'S GONNA TAKE IT!???"

Ryouga shrank back under Ranma's words, just looking down at the deck plating in silence.

* * *

On the Warbird, Cell was still rambling on to a now blank viewscreen that he wasn't even looking at. 

"I know that it's hard to come across beings of my level of genius in this galaxy, but what can I say?" Cell shrugged. "I am a product of the greatest criminal mind in existence, the late Dr. Gero! His dream of galactic domination shall be realized through ME, as I take my rightful place as the ruler of this whole pitiful galaxy!! AAHHHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHHH!!!!!"

"Umm… sir?" Tomerand sounded a little sheepish now.

"TOMERAND!" Cell shot to him. "Don't interrupt me when I'm praising myself in front of these inadequate fools!"

"B-but sir, the screen is blank. They… hung up on you…"

Cell stopped in his tracks and twisted his head slowly to face the viewscreen. It was black, as Tomerand said. He snarled deep, and the Warbird rumbled under his feet.

"They… hung… Up… On… ME??????? HOW RUDE!!!" He hollered. With no warning whatsoever, Cell threw his arm out in Tomerand's direction. His new number two screamed as his body was ripped to pieces by Cell's thoughts. A few agonizing seconds later, what was left of him fell to the deck, gave a little twitch, and died.

"NO ONE HANGS UP ON MEEEE!!!!!!" Cell was still hollering. "NAMELESS IDIOT!" He pointed to the person that ran up to take Tomerand's post.

"Y-y-yes, sir?" the new officer stammered.

"SHOW THEM WHAT HAPPENS WHEN THEY HANG UP ON ME!!"

"A-aye, sir!"

* * *

The turbolift doors to the right of the bridge swooshed open, and Akane came out onto the bridge. She stood beside Ranma's chair and looked around at all the faces pointed in a single direction. She followed their lines of sight, and laid her eyes on Ryouga. 

What had he done? Why was everyone staring at him?

"Captain!" Mousse spoke up. "Some activity from the Warbird now!"

On the viewscreen, Cell's ship moved away, then swooped around and began to fire on the Wildstar.

"SHIT!!" Ranma hollered, just before the first volley hit. The ship rocked hard, and the only person who wasn't braced for it hit the deck hard, slamming her arm into the side of the step going up to the tactical station. She cried out.

"AKANE!" Two voices chorused.

Ryouga leapt from the helm station at full speed, but came to a sudden halt when he felt his knee impact against something. He looked down quickly, and his eyes doubled in size at the sight of the destroyed Manual Steering Column.

"Medical team to the bridge!" Ranma called out as the Wildstar began doing barrel rolls in odd loop de loop combinations. Ryouga swore under his breath and began trying to put the pieces of the manual steering column back together.

"Mousse!" Shampoo called out. "Shoot back, Mousse!!"

Mousse was hitting buttons frantically, not a good thing to be doing on a ship of war! Torpedos and phasers shot out in every direction but the right one, and Mousse finally gave up and slapped his console.

"It's no good, Shampoo My Love!" He replied. "I can't get any kind of a lock while we're doing barrel rolls and stuff!"

Shampoo snarled loud. She reached beside her console and grabbed her phaser, shooting Mousse with a heavy stun setting. "SHAMPOO NOT YOUR LOVE!!!" She retorted. Mousse collapsed to the deck, unconscious, just as Dr. McCoy ran onto the bridge.

Alarms began to blare everywhere in response to the unauthorized phaser blast on the bridge, and the fire suppression systems activated. Sprinklers threw water all across the room, soaking everything and everyone it hit. McCoy reached Akane's side and inspected her arm.

"I'm OK!" Akane said quickly. "I only broke a nail. It just surprised me a little, is all!"

True to their curses, Mousse, Shampoo, Ranma and Ryouga all began to change.

* * *

On the viewscreen before him, Cell watched in confusion as the Wildstar did some crazy flips and twists in space. He hadn't hit them that hard… had he? 

"Nameless idiot," he recited. "How hard did we hit them?"

"Just an angry punch on our part, really, sir…" the officer replied. His fear of Cell had given way to his bewilderment at the sight before him.

"Hmm…" Cell thought to himself. "How strange…"

* * *

"No no no no NOO!!!" Ryouga screamed, still trying to repair the column he had broken. Soon, he was a little black piglet in his seat, trying hard to keep two halves of a joystick together long enough to insert them back into… SHIT! He had forgotten to reassemble the base! Goku saw the trouble he was having and quickly ran over to the piglet's side. 

"Here, Ryouga. Let me help! What can I do?"

"WHEEEE!!!" Came the outraged reply. He felt a strange burning at the back of his neck, and took only a small second to think about it before it was quickly dismissed. If little P-chan had turned around at that exact moment, he would have seen Akane's wide eyes boring into the back of his head!

Shampoo, now a Persian cat, meowed loudly from her console. Mousse flapped his wings hard and landed on the top of his control station with a quack. Ranma just stood in the middle of it all with her eyes half shut. She hadn't been quick enough, and her pants lay down around her ankles. Her top tunic was barely long enough to cover the more sensitive areas as she turned her head slowly to look at Akane.

"A nail…?" she looked extremely not impressed!

McCoy looked around in shock, seeing a cat, a duck, a woman and a piglet where four officers used to be. He couldn't wrap his head around it at first, but then came to one inescapable conclusion.

_They're all changelings!_ He thought to himself. Sure, the dominion threat had ended, but perhaps this was some new insurgency on their part. He had to bust them while he could! He reached slowly and carefully into his med kit to find something sharp…

The turbolift opened again, and four security officers poured onto the bridge.

"Who Fired The Pha-"

"QUACK!" Mousse-duck said, flapping his wings hard.

"MEOW!!" Shampoo-cat cried, trying to hide under her chair from the sprinklers.

"WHHEEEEEE!!!!!" P-Chan complained, still trying to hold together a control box with his nose and insert the joystick with his arms.

"Aw, swell…" Ranma sighed, turning to face the flabbergasted security personnel.

From her station at the back of the bridge, Dana was laughing her ass off harder than she ever had in her life!

The opposite turbolift opened, and Vegeta ran out onto the bridge. He screeched to a halt at the pandemonium before him, an expression of shock on his face. Security guards were unmoving by the first lift, still too confused to know left from right. There was a duck at the tactical station that Vegeta assumed was Mousse as it turned to him and quacked frantically with many a flap of its wings. A cat hiding under the chair at the Ops console must have been Commander Shampoo, judging by its hair color and whiney attitude! Akane was on the floor in front of Mousse's console with a broken nail, Doctor McCoy was holding a sharp surgical knife inches from Ranma's arm, who was now a girl with no pants on, and there was a little black piglet with a bandana that could only belong to Ryouga trying desperately to fix a mutilated manual steering column with the help of a Super Saiyan!!

"…WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON HERE!????" He hollered. Everyone came to a complete stop and turned to face him. Vegeta blinked for a moment before turning to the security officers.

"Get off the bridge!" He yelled. The security men jumped back in the turbolift like there was no tomorrow and were quickly gone.

"McCoy!!" He hollered next. "They're not founders, you fool, they're cursed!!! The woman on whose arm you're about to perform surgery IS Captain Saotome!!"

McCoy shrunk back a bit. "…Oh…" He quickly hid the knife behind his back and stepped away from Ranma carefully to put the instrument back in his med kit.

"Computer, shut off these damned suppression systems!!" Vegeta yelled. There was a chirp, and the sprinklers shut down, leaving everything very, very wet!

"Disable manual steering controls and set course for Orion prime, warp 14." he continued to instruct the computer. "When we're out of the Warbird's sensor range, engage the cloak."

The computer let out a series of chirps again. On the viewscreen, the star field came to a halt, just before flying past the ship with increasing speed as the Wildstar jumped to warp.

Vegeta went to the nearest replicator and spoke into it. "One jug of hot water." He instructed.

"Specify temperature." The computer replied.

"HOT!!! DAMMIT!!! WHY IS EVERYTHING A DEBATE WITH YOU STUPID ELECTRONIC GADGETS!??? JUST GIVE ME HOT WATER!!!"

The replicator beeped again, and a jug of steaming water appeared. Vegeta went around individually. He came to Mousse-duck and poured the water on him first. As Mousse sprouted up into his old self, Vegeta doused Shampoo-cat next. He walked past Ranma to the piglet and let him have it as well, then stepped up to Ranma.

"What a team of misfits you all are," he chuckled, then threw the remainder of the water at Ranma, who quickly picked her pants up as she began to change back.

Moments passed by quickly, and before long, most of the water had been cleaned from the bridge by low yield AUTHORIZED phaser fire. As Ranma gave off the last few shots, he turned to face Vegeta.

"So what brought ya up here, anyways, Commander?" He asked.

"Oh, you know," Vegeta replied sarcastically. "Spinning star fields, phaser alarms and scrambling security. The usual."

Ranma looked at him with a 'very funny' expression. "Oh, har, har, Vegeta!"

"Commander Jorgensen signaled me." He chuckled.

"Ah," came the reply.

Finally, Ranma turned to face the front of the bridge where both Shampoo and Ryouga were now standing. Akane had already recovered herself off the floor and was now over talking with Dana at the back of the bridge.

Ranma scowled a little as he stepped towards Ryouga and Shampoo.

"Lt. Commander Hibiki. Commander Shampoo. The two of you displayed reprehensible behavior today. I dunno where ya get off cutting off communications without authorization, and I dunno why you would be close enough to a manual steering column ta destroy it when ya stand up, Ryouga. Needless to say that I'm not very fuckin' impressed."

Shampoo was smiling a little at the fact that Ryouga was getting in shit. Ranma saw this out of the corner of his eye and flicked his head to face Shampoo.

"Somethin' funny, Commander? Or did ya forget that ya pulled out a phaser and FIRED IT ON A FELLOW OFFICER! Without authorization, ta boot!!!"

Shampoo lost her smile immediately and shrunk down, folding her hands together in front of her.

"You both… ya just make me so… so… RRRRR!!!!!!!!"

He turned away from them for a quick second before coming to a conclusion and whipping back around.

"You're both confined ta quarters 'til we reach Orion prime. Now get the fuck off the bridge!"

The two slowly and somberly walked away, heading for separate turbolifts. Shampoo left the bridge first, but Ryouga steeled his courage and stepped over to Akane before he left. Ranma took a second to watch at the front of the bridge, wondering if Akane had even noticed when Ryouga changed right in front of her. Suddenly, Ryouga's talking was interrupted with the loudest open-hand slap he had EVER heard ring out across ANY room! Akane hadn't even hit HIM that hard EVER! Ryouga turned his eyes away from Akane's and slowly but surely left the bridge, a bright red hand print throbbing on his cheek. As he left the bridge, Ranma stepped back to his chair and sloughed down in it with exhaustion. All he had wanted was sleep. All he had needed was some time to relax. The only thing that would make him feel any better now was…

"Number one," he looked over at Goku with pleading eyes. "Could you please, please bring me a cup of tea…"

* * *

Cell watched the viewscreen with mild confusion barely apparent on his features. He couldn't put together in his head what had just happened. They fired off a volley that did minimal damage, yet for some reason the Wildstar displayed a loss of attitude control and inertial stabilization. Then, it suddenly righted itself, and took off at a speed that his computer had deemed impossible to achieve. 

"I don't like not knowing things…" Cell growled to himself. Behind him, one of the bridge entrances opened. He could hear hard and confident footsteps walking onto the bridge.

"I see something is bothering you, My Lord." A voice said. "Shall I come back another time?"

The man behind Cell began to turn for the exit.

"Wait," Cell instructed. The footsteps stopped. "You would not have beamed over from your ship for nothing, so you may as well tell me what you came to say."

The footsteps began again, coming up behind Cell now.

"Very well." His voice had always been strong, and maybe that was why Cell respected this man enough not to kill him if he aggravated him.

"The Wildstar is en route to Orion Prime as we speak. We plotted her heading about two minutes ago. I was going to suggest that we use the portals to reach the planet before they do."

Cell nodded with a grunt of agreement as he turned to face the man.

"Always out to impress, aren't you!" Cell approved. The portals were stolen technology from their closest neighbors… when they still existed! Once Cell had risen to power in the Romulan Senate, he overthrew their 'friends', the Ardinas. He took from them the only useful piece of technology they had ever invented; the stable subspace 'Waverider' portals.

Not three feet in front of him, Captain Tomolak smiled that same devious smile he always did.

"You have no idea!"

* * *

Akane rubbed her temples in her sickbay office. She'd left the bridge well over two hours ago now. Unable to get back to sleep, as the case was with the entire day shift, she had come down to sickbay to go over some reports from the day before. 

"Day before," she mused with spite. "Hah! Until I get six hours of sleep under my belt it's still yesterday!"

McCoy knocked on the glass.

"Wanna join in the midnight moping?" Akane asked, looking up at him slowly.

"Actually," McCoy said. "I have a question… or some questions… well, just one really, but… kinda about more than one person…?" He sounded totally lost and confused.

Akane sighed heavily, kicking the chair on the other side of her desk out a bit as she reached for her Rachtagino.

"Have a seat!" She sounded non-enthused. "I assume you wanna know why we have the only captain in all of Starfleet who's both a man and a woman, right?"

"Yeah!" McCoy looked way to cheerful for five in the morning! "I mean, that and the Duck chief of security, the Cat chief of operations and the funny little black piglet with a bandana running the helm…"

Akane took a very big gulp of her coffee, glaring hard at McCoy for his last statement before quickly averting her eyes. It wasn't the doctor's fault, after all. He didn't need to hear about her life's story, even if it DID involve a little black piglet that she had just today found out was their helmsman all that time! No, she would get her revenge against the lost boy herself, at a more opportune time! As if a simple slap could make up for all the years he'd been in her b-be…be… she shook her head quickly. It was just too disgusting to think about!

"Well, it's like Commander Vegeta said. They're all cursed. See, on earth, there's a training ground in China that has a whole bunch of springs. Well, long story short, something drowned in each one of them, and now whoever falls into a spring turns into the animal that drowned in it whenever they get hit with cold water. Only hot water turns them back."

McCoy followed with a furrowed brow and a very estranged look on his face.

"Soooo…." He trailed off. "Lemme get this straight. Lt. Commander Ryouga fell into a stream where a little black piglet drowned, Lt. Commander Mousse fell into a duck spring, and Commander Shampoo fell into a Cat spring?"

Akane nodded, "And Captain Saotome fell into a spring of drowned girl."

McCoy looked off to the side with eyes that were miles away. "Yeah, but a damned hot girl, for sure!"

He turned back to face Akane and nearly dropped his jaw. A grin slowly and slyly spread across his face as he realized something. Akane was staring at him with eyes that could drill a hole in solid Uranium!

"Oh!! Oh, oh, oh, OHH!!!! HAHAH!!! You LIKE Captain Saotome!!!"

Akane immediately went on the defensive. "What!?? I do not!"

"Don't even try to hide it! I've seen that look on too many women to not know what it means! I said I thought that Captain Saotome in girl form was Major Hot…" he emphasized his last two words, and then pointed at Akane with wild eyes as she repeated the glare.

"AND YOU DID THAT!!! I KNEW IT!!!"

Akane stared at McCoy with those eyes again as she took another huge gulp of her coffee.

"Shut up!" She muttered.

* * *

The Wildstar flew gracefully under cloak in the direction of Orion Prime. On the bridge, Ranma paced back and forth in front of his chair. He'd been doing it for the last two hours, as well as something else that had been majorly pissing off his helmsman. 

"Are we there yet?" Ranma muttered.

At the helm, Ensign Hummer sighed heavily. "Not yet, sir. Two more hours."

"Dammit." Ranma knew they had to get there before Cell did, since Cell was flying the only other big bad Romulan… thing he'd ever seen in existence.

Vegeta came onto the bridge with speed. He made a beeline to Ranma and Goku and simply nodded in the direction of the briefing room exit beside the tactical station. Goku stood and they all walked off the bridge.

Mr. Hummer slumped back in his chair with a deep breath. "Thank God!"

* * *

As the briefing room doors opened before them, Ranma had one thing and one thing only sitting at the front of his mind. He hadn't been able to sway the thought that Section 31 was behind everything that was happening, and he had become bound and determined to prove it. 

"But how…" Ranma mused out loud as he walked to the front of the conference table and took his seat. Goku sat to his right and Vegeta sat to his left. They both eyed him a little suspiciously, wondering what he was thinking about.

"How what, Ranma?" Vegeta went straight to the point, folding his hands together on the table in front of him, a mirror Saiyan across the table from him repeating his actions. Ranma was silent still for at least a handful of seconds before taking in a deep breath.

"Computer, seal the room." He said quietly. "Disable audio/visual recorders for the observation lounge for the next… thirty minutes."

The computer chirped a couple of times. "Authorization required to disable surveillance systems."

"Computer, this is Captain Ranma Saotome. I authorize the surveillance shut down. Recognize security clearance Alpha, code 1-1A."

Ranma turned to look at Goku. He said nothing as his first officer searched his complexion for any hint as to why Ranma was doing what he was doing. When he found none, he gave a small shrug.

"Computer, this is Commander Goku. I concur with the shut down. Recognize security clearance Alpha, code 1-1A-2B."

Goku turned to Vegeta. He crossed his arms as he cocked his head a little to look back. Without moving his eyes from Goku's, he spoke.

"Computer, this is Commander Vegeta. I concur with the shut down. Recognize security clearance Alpha, code 1-2A-3B."

The computer beeped a couple more times, and then replied. "Observation Lounge surveillance equipment will be disabled for thirty minutes."

"Alright, Ranma, you've peaked my curiosity." Vegeta said, coolly before gaining a grin. "Now speak up, the suspense is a killer!"

Ranma looked from Vegeta to Goku quickly, and then stared straight ahead.

"I… need ta know…" Ranma ran a hand down his face. "This conversation stays between the three of us. Unless I decide otherwise. I need to know how ta prove Section 31's involvement in this crapheap of a mission we've been sent on."

Goku flashed Ranma a look that seemed to say 'Watch that thin ice you're slamming a five ton mallet on, Captain!' Vegeta just whistled in astonishment.

"…Well, I think a good place to start is to be careful what you ask for, Ranma." Vegeta intoned.

"Listen," Ranma sighed. "I know what Section 31's policy is on themselves. It's the only rule the bastards have period! 'Section 31 does not exist, and is considered ta be a forbidden subject.' I really don't give a damn! The bastards are screwin' with my ship on her maiden voyage, and I wanna know why!!"

Goku nodded. "There's a long list of stuff pointing towards section 31. But what we don't have is evidence of any kind."

"Then let's get some." Ranma made it sound so easy.

"Where would we even begin to look?" Vegeta wasn't so easily convinced.

Ranma stopped short, going completely silent for a moment. Then, he looked back forward again, as if staring at a face at the other end of the table that wasn't even there.

"Admiral Tendo."

Both Vegeta and Goku shot their gaze towards Ranma. He was serious. Somewhere in the back of his mind, he had convinced himself that Section 31 had planned this whole thing.

But this was a theory that Vegeta, at least, was more than happy to run with.

"Alright, so where do we go with that?"

Ranma leaned back in his chair now. "Let's dig up the surveillance videos of his office, as well as a list of any incomin' and outgoin' transmissions between his office and… anywhere. Go back about a month. I don't care if it's text documents or imagery. If it came to or left his office, I wanna see it."

Vegeta and Goku both grabbed pads from the table and started to work while Ranma stood and went to the viewscreen at the front of the room. Fifteen minutes passed by them slower than a turtle before someone finally broke the silence.

"I've gathered a list of all his incoming and outgoing transmissions from the last month." Goku said.

"I've finished compiling office recorder visual logs." Vegeta added.

"This is interestin', you guys." Ranma said from the viewscreen. "Over the last month, there've been over two dozen unexplainable security blackouts at Starfleet Headquarters, and at least a half dozen in the president's office at the United Federation of Planets Embassy. Not one of them goes over ten minutes before the blackout ends like nothing' was ever wrong with the recorders."

Vegeta and Goku frowned and stood, walking up to Ranma.

"That doesn't make any sense…" Goku mused.

"Not from the standpoint of system failure's it doesn't." Vegeta agreed. "But if we're looking for any sign that Section 31 may have been involved, I'd say we just found the first.

"I've got another for you." Goku grinned, surveying his pad again and comparing it against the times displayed on the viewscreen. "During each one of these blackouts, there's a transmission either coming to or going from Admiral Tendo's office, and each blackout is immediately followed by Admiral Tendo calling a major briefing of the chiefs of staff."

"More than I've got." Vegeta snarled. "The blackouts affected Admiral Tendo's office surveillance equipment as well. The only thing I have to add to the pile is that the office recorder visual logs for ten minutes after each blackout have been erased with Admiral Tendo's clearance level."

Ranma was actually starting to smile. He turned quickly and sat at his chair, quickly followed by Vegeta and Goku. "OK, here's the theory, then. Section 31 knew that Starfleet was lookin' for a way ta regain some control in the Alpha quadrant. They met with Admiral Tendo, and arranged for the CinC ta be at the wrong place at the wrong time. He gets captured, and the Wildstar is launched ta rescue him after bein' outfitted with the only registered cloaking device in the fleet. On top of it, we're armed ta the teeth. Starfleet gets their excuse, and Section 31 gets a quadrant wide war."

Goku was lost. "Why the hell would Section 31 be interested in starting a war?"

Vegeta said nothing, but his expression held the same question.

Ranma waived Goku's question off quickly. "They aren't all that interested in the war. They only set all this up ta give the federation a more powerful stance. If the war comes as a side effect of legalizin' Starfleet's use of cloaking technology, then so be it. They're only actin' ta preserve the Federation."

"You can't be approving of this, Ranma?" Vegeta looked surprised.

"Hell no!" Ranma shot back. "I'm just statin' the situation from their view point. Section 31 knew that Starfleet needed ta be rewritten, and maybe the best way ta do that is to fuel war and know, somehow, that the Federation would come out on top."

"You're saying they predict success in this war to be handed to Starfleet?"

Ranma looked a little surprised at hearing his own words so easily simplified back to him. "…I guess I am. Somehow, Section 31 knows somethin' that will turn the tides in an all out war to favor the Federation. I… have no idea what that could be, though."

Silence floated between them again. Long moments passed quietly before Vegeta sighed heavily.

"There's no use in trying to determine that now. The surveillance will be firing back up any minute. Let's just concentrate on the here and now. We have to rescue the CinC, and we're just under two hours from his probable location."

"Alright, Vegeta, what have you got?" Ranma asked quickly, almost embracing the opportunity to give his brain a break.

"All the info you'll ever want about Cell and his rise to power within the Romulan Government." Vegeta answered.

"Spill." Ranma's impatience at the situation he had been put in by his superiors was showing just a bit too much.

"He came to Romulus shortly after his failed attempt to take over earth. He found a species after his own heart. Deceitful liars with no military moral ethics. Shinzon had just been killed by Captain Picard and the Enterprise, so their government was without structure. Cell applied for a position on the senate and rose to Praetor by way of insurrection and assassination. Shortly after coming to power, he ordered the invasion of the Ardinas, and gained the Romulans the use of their subspace portal network."

"Wait," Goku stopped Vegeta. "If he has access to that network…"

Ranma's eyes grew a little. "He might make it there before we do!"

The three of them immediately jumped out of their seats and headed for the bridge. They stormed onto it with meaning, Goku and Ranma moving straight for their seats, and Vegeta going right to the engineering station.

"Helm!" Ranma's voice became powerful and worried. He looked around for a second before catching a nod from Vegeta and turning back to the viewscreen. "Increase speed ta warp 14.."

Mr. Hummer turned in his seat with a gawking expression on his face. "Sir, the engines have never been pushed past 14.5!"

Ranma looked over to Vegeta once more before turning back to the helmsman.

"You heard the order, Ensign. Warp 14.."

Mr. Hummer turned back to his console with a worried look as he cocked his head a bit. "Aye, sir."

Underneath them, the Wildstar began to shudder under the pressure of the static warp field being pushed beyond its stress-tested limit. Ranma felt the new vibrations grow, and soon the ship was shuddering hard. He turned in his chair to face the engineering console.

"Vegeta…" he said with a worried tone.

"Stand by, Captain!" Vegeta's powerful voice said that he knew exactly what he was doing, and Ranma watched as Vegeta punched in commands without even looking at his fingers, his eyes fixed on the intermix ratios.

"Helm!!" Vegeta hollered. "Route static warp field integrity through the holodeck power matrix! There's plenty of juice to spare there."

Mr. Hummer did as he was told without a word, and within seconds, the ship stabilized, the shaking disappearing entirely! A grin graced Goku's expression as he looked at Ranma. Ranma chuckled to himself, and Vegeta stood from his console and made his way to the second officer's chair to sit down.

"It's not much in the grand scheme of warp travel," Goku laughed. "But it'll get us there that much faster!"

Ranma and Vegeta nodded together.

"Now," Ranma said, leaning forward in his chair a little bit. "We need a plan of action for rescuin' the CinC. We'll enter the system under cloak and assess the situation from orbit of Orion Prime. Once we know everythin' we need to for the rescue operation, we'll hold a briefing ta decide on a plan of action."

"And Cell?" Vegeta growled.

Ranma shrugged. "We'll have ta deal with him when he arrives."

* * *

OK, as I said at the top, this is a re-post to fix some small problems (mostly centered around my accidental exclusion of Akane discovering Ryouga's curse)! Still, there's not much changed, so I don't expect you guys to re-review this chapter. Just soak up the changes so the new stuff makes sense! 

MattSaotome


	7. Chapter 6: Jailbreak!

OK, so I think I've finally found my 'Ranma center' here.

Time for things to heat up a bit

MattSaotome

* * *

Chapter 6

Jailbreak!

_The Wildstar has been under high warp for Orion Prime for the past hour. Long range scans of the system ahead have been completed, and the senior staff is assembling in the briefing room in order to put together some kind of a plan. I can't get thoughts of outside influence out of my head, and, though it is rare for this to happen in my case, I am worried about Akane's father, Admiral Tendo. Perhaps this time, he's bit off more than all of Starfleet can chew… _

Ryouga was fidgeting. He felt extremely uncomfortable. He didn't understand what was going through his head on the bridge. Why the hell did he cut off that Cell guy the way he did? Without approval. Why had he assumed the worst when he saw Ranma running out of his quarters and Akane inside? Why? Because she had been shirtless, that was why! What had Ranma done to her? He could picture a sex crazed Ranma Saotome glomping himself onto Akane, hungry for action! It made him shiver. Ranma had extended a hand of friendship to him. Was this any way for Ranma to behave after that? He said that the choice was Akane's, and Ryouga was certain of the direction that choice would take. He was all too confident that Akane would never willingly pick Ranma. She hated him too much.

No, Ranma had crossed the line, this time! Ryouga would not sit back with Ranma's assurances of friendship now. That was screwed up pretty much permanently.

"Ranma, you dog!" Ryouga growled to himself. "I won't be your friend! We're rivals to the bone, and it'll always be that way!"

Just as he finished, the com beeped. "Saotome to Hibiki."

Ryouga snarled a bit. "Go ahead."

"Report to the observation lounge for senior staff briefing."

Ryouga fumbled for words for a moment. Briefing? Wasn't he confined to quarters? Oh well. Eat that, Shampoo!

"On my way." Ryouga answered, standing and heading for the doors.

* * *

The senior staff poured into the briefing room in mild silence. It was all too obvious that everyone was just as disturbed by what was happening as Ranma. He watched them all file in and take their seats, almost like watching a funeral precession without a casket. The doors closed behind the last man, then suddenly swung open again as Ryouga came in and headed for his seat. He took it just as silently, but was eying Ranma with disdain the whole time. 

_What's his problem?_ Ranma wondered. Before he could try to figure it out, the doors opened again, and Shampoo walked in and took her seat. Ryouga's face displayed mild shock, but it was gone before a few seconds had passed.

"Thank you all for coming," Ranma began.

"Not like we had a choice!" Ryouga spat right back.

"…Is there a problem, Ryouga?" Ranma asked, a little flustered by Ryouga's behavior.

"Yes." Ryouga answered cleanly.

Ranma saw the look on Ryouga's face and remembered it all too well. "Look, Ryouga. If you have a problem with me, we can discuss it later. That's part of what 'burying the hatchet' means."

Ryouga just growled a little as he crossed his arms over his chest. "There will be no more 'hatchet burying', SIR!"

Ranma thought for a second, then, to the shock of everyone there, shot his tongue out at Ryouga!

Ryouga's face went red with rage, and he began to yell back at Ranma.

"Why you lit-"

"Shutup!!" Ranma pointed a finger at Ryouga without looking at him. "We're here for a briefin', so deal with it. If ya wanna kill me so badly, at least wait 'til we're done here."

"Fine!" Ryouga spat back through gritted teeth.

"Stupid boy won't hurt my Ranma!" Shampoo glared at Ryouga.

"Shutup!!" Ranma pointed another finger at Shampoo, but turned to face her with a forced grin. "I belong to ME! YOU just do your job!"

Shampoo smiled as if she wasn't even getting in trouble. "Hai, Ranma!" At least she understood the shut up part.

Akane was wearing an expression that could have come to life on its own and strangled the life out of the Amazon woman across from her. After taking a moment to glare in hatred at her, Akane turned to face the front again.

"Shampoo, you took a long range sensor scan of the Orion system." Ranma pointed out. Shampoo nodded quickly in reply. "Show us what ya found."

"Hai!" Shampoo jumped out of her chair and went to the front of the room. She punched in a few commands, and the viewscreen came to life with an image of the Orion System. "Long range scan show obvious military base at Orion Prime. Also, military bunker on second moon. 6 Orion raiders in orbit of planet. Also 2 D Deridex Romulan Warbirds. Detailed scan of bunker show prison section with one human life form."

"The CinC." Ranma said, turning away from the display to face the table of people again. Without warning, Shampoo slapped the back of Ranma's head hard.

"Ow!" Ranma began to rub it.

"That SHAMPOO'S news to tell, Ranma!" She huffed back to her seat and sat down with a scowl on her face. Ranma just rubbed the back of his head for a few more minutes.

"So it's like this." Goku said. "We know where the CinC is. The closest beam in point is here."

The screen moved to display an area that was obviously a good walk from the CinC's location. Obviously not something that would help them in the 'remaining un-noticed' department!

"There are at least a dozen security officers between the beam in point and the CinC's location." Mousse spoke up.

"So send in the Wildcards." McCoy said. "That is what they do, isn't it?"

Everyone at the table nodded.

"Ok then." Ranma said. "So we send in the Wildcards. Mr. Stoltz, chose four of your men to go with you. Commander Mousse will accompany your unit along with Bones."

Steven nodded. "Aye, sir."

"We'll get close enough ta beam ya in without detection, then we'll stand by 'til we get your signal for beam up. Once you're back on board with the CinC, we'll head outta the system. At the edge of Orion space, we'll leave a subspace transmitter buoy, statin' that the treaty of Algeron has been rescinded due ta Romulan involvement in a direct attack upon the Federations internal security. That'll be it. No uncloakin', no engagin' the Orion raiders or the Romulan Warbirds. Just get in, recover the CinC, get out, and leave. Any questions?"

There was total silence until a hand went up at the back of the table.

"Mr. Hummer?" Ranma gave the ensign the floor.

"How can we beam anyone through their shield grid?" Hummer asked.

"It's quite simple, really." Vegeta leaned forward, turning to face the ensign. "We'll fire a narrow anion particle beam at their shield grid. Under normal circumstances, this would set off the alarm. However, we'll be firing a beam with a particle density skinnier in width than your pinky finger. This will barely accommodate one person to beam through the opening at a time. It's just a tiny hole in their defensive grid. It won't show up on their computers until it's at least an inch wide, so no worries."

Mr. Hummer was busily twisting his hand in different directions, observing his pinky finger with an unusual look on his face when he realized that Vegeta was done talking. He looked up all too quickly before feeling kind of sheepish and putting his hand back down on his leg. "Um, Ok. Sounds good!"

Vegeta snickered once, then turned back to Ranma. He mouthed the word 'imbecile' as he crossed his arms. Ranma shook his head with a bit of a smile.

"Well, everyone knows the plan. We'll enter the system under cloak, and remain that way 'til we're at the edge of Orion Space. Dismissed."

Everyone rose at the same time and made for the exits.

* * *

_Captain's log, supplemental. We'll be entering the Orion system in about ten minutes. With everything ready for the rescue, which the Wildcards have lovingly titled 'Operation: Jailbreak', the Wildstar's crew waits for action with baited breath. Unfortunately, they won't get any if everything goes according to plan. But we all know what Murphy usually has to say about that…_

Ranma paced a five foot space at the center of the bridge, his hands behind his back. He couldn't take the suspense.

"Sir," Goku grinned. "You're wearing a hole in the deck plating!"

Ranma came to a stop and sighed. Obviously, his pacing was getting to the bridge officers, no matter how much better it made him feel. He turned and quickly stat in his chair. The last few minutes ticked by at an almost painfully slow pace before Ryouga finally called over his shoulder, "Now approaching the Orion system."

Ranma was back on his feet in a flash, stepping only a foot or two forward.

"Slow ta impulse." He said. Ryouga pushed a few buttons here and there, and the star field outside the ship began to slow. Ranma caught a glimpse of something swelling in the middle of the viewscreen.

"Is that…" Goku was squinting. He didn't have to for long, however, as the object very quickly came to full size.

It was the second moon in orbit of Orion Prime, and they could very plainly make out almost every detail of it!!

"SHIT!!!" Ryouga's eyes went wide, realizing he'd come out of warp IN the system instead of before it.

"Computer, emergency stop!!" Ranma hollered. The Wildstar screeched to a halt, and Ryouga's panel measured their distance from the moon at a little under one hundred meters when they finally achieved a full stop.

Half the bridge crew was staring wide eyed at the viewscreen, displaying the symptoms of mild shock. Ranma caught his breath, then hit Ryouga over the back of the head hard.

"You twit!!" He emphasized the 'twit' with his hand as hard as he could.

"Ouch!!" Ryouga winced downward and held the back of his head with both hands. "Sorry!!"

Ranma turned to walk away from the helm station. "Yeah, not as sorry as you'll be if that happens again! Synchronous orbit over the bunker!" Then Ranma noticed the bridge crew around him. He sighed again, and clapped his hands together hard, giving off a very satisfying 'BANG!!!'

The crew jumped back to reality as they realized they were all still alive.

"OK, people. We got work ta do. I don't wanna be hidin' right under the noses of the Orions and Romulans all day, ya know!" Ranma said sternly as he walked over to the tactical station. "Briton, tactical analysis of the system."

Briton hit a few buttons and watched a few displays before answering.

"Everything looks Ok, Captain. The warbirds are in orbit of the planet, and the raiders are spread out over a 10,000 kilometer radius from the moon. As long as they don't fly right into us, staying cloaked will work just fine."

Ranma nodded. "Alright!" He walked over to the engineering station next, and leaned over it beside Dana. "Begin firing the anion particle beam, Mr. Jorgensen."

Dana nodded with a chuckle. She hadn't been called 'Mr. Jorgensen' since her first captain. For some reason, she realized she'd kinda missed it, if only for just how grammatically incorrect it really was!

"Firing now." She said. "I'm bringing up a thermal image scan of their shield grid."

On the viewscreen, the moon blipped to a collection of reds, greens and yellows against a hard blue. Ranma watched as one of these patches began to form on the bunker's shield grid. It began as a tiny little yellow spot, but before a minute was up, it was an obvious little red hole. As Vegeta had explained, it was no larger than his pinky finger.

"Good work, Commander." Ranma said to Dana as he walked back to the front of the bridge. "Transporter room three, stand by ta energize."

* * *

In transporter room three, Steven had four of his men assembled along with Mousse and Dr. McCoy. 

"Acknowledged." Mousse replied to Ranma. He stepped onto the transporter pad, strapping his phaser rifle to his back. McCoy finished gathering his med kit and tricorder, then stepped into the chamber as well, placing a type II hand phaser into its holster. Steven looked over his men quickly, then nodded. They all walked into the chamber, and the group faced the transporter console.

"Ready, Captain." Steven called.

"No unnecessary risks, guys." Ranma's voice said. "Just get in, get the CinC, and get out. Understood?"

Everyone nodded, even though Ranma wasn't even there. "Understood, sir." Mousse replied. He turned to the console where transporter chief John Carver stood. With a quick nod in the chief's direction, he said, "Energize."

One by one, each member of the team vanished off the transporter pad.

* * *

"Wildcards deployed, sir." Carver's voice came back to Ranma over the com system. 

"Thanks, Chief." Ranma answered. His mouth was parched, and he knew it had to be from the anticipation he was feeling now. His first mission was about to succeed or fail, and he was almost literally dying to know which it was gonna be. He walked past the tactical station and to the replicator.

"Computer, water. Chilled." The replicator beeped at him, then a glass of water on the rocks materialized. Ranma grabbed it with thankful hands and threw back the whole thing! He shoved it back into the replicator.

"Computer, another." The replicator beeped again, and the glass glistened as it was refilled. Ranma reached for it and took another big gulp out of it, then headed back for his chair. No sooner had he reached it when the tactical station began to beep loudly at Mr. Briton. He looked down at it, puzzled for a second before his eyes got a bit bigger.

"Sir, Cell's warbird is entering the system!"

"Shit!" Ranma swore under his breath. "Yellow alert. Energize defense fields."

Around him, the bridge officers seemed to strengthen their stances, each one straightening out at their post as their own little way of preparing for the possibility of battle and the need for quick, decisive responses. Ranma just sat back in his chair slowly. As long as Cell didn't do anything he needed to worry about, then he really didn't care that the man-bug was here.

"Cell entering moon orbit, Ranma." Shampoo looked up at him from her post. She seemed to be worried enough for the both of them.

"Captain," Ryouga called out. "The orbit path he's following is gonna put him right on top of us. He'll either be five meters above us or five meters IN us, I'm just not too sure which one yet!"

Ranma cursed again. There was the move he needed to worry about. He stood from his chair again, feeling a bit like a pop up gopher in one of those old earth games. He stepped up beside Ryouga's console.

"Z minus 500 meters, Mr. Hibiki. Thrusters only."

Ryouga nodded. "Aye." He pushed a few buttons on his console, and the Wildstar began to move down.

* * *

Cell stared at his screen in silence. The moon loomed before him as his warbird entered orbit. He knew that, if the Wildstar was captained by anyone smart, they'd head straight here and attempt to take back the CinC before he arrived. 

Well they were too damned late!

"Science. Long range scan for the Wildstar." He ordered.

"No federation ships within two systems of us, sir." Came the meek reply.

"Weapons. Charge all disruptor banks and flood all torpedo tubes."

"Aye, sir." Another whimpering officer replied.

"Continue scanning, science. The second they appear on long range sensors, I want to know."

Cell was upset. If his computer had been correct about the Wildstar's previous speed, she had not only broken warp 10, but managed to achieve and hold warp 14 until they had flown out of sensor range. Even with the use of the portals, the math said the Wildstar should have been here before him.

So where was she?

"Umm, sir?" the science officer piped up.

"What?" Cell asked in monotone.

"Umm… something strange drifting about a hundred meters below us and falling."

Cell's brow furrowed. 'Something' falling from beneath them? That was descriptive.

"Well, what is it, then?" Cell asked impatiently.

"I think it's-"

* * *

"Ryouga, are you venting the bussard collectors?!" Dana hollered across the bridge. Ryouga scowled in confusion as he turned his seat so he could look across the bridge at her. 

"No." he answered. "Why?"

Dana gave a meek smile that seemed to say 'this would be funny if he hadn'ta just given us away!' "'Cause ya are!"

Ranma was beside Ryouga's console again in a heartbeat as Ryouga swung his seat back around to look over his readouts. Sure enough, the bussard collectors had been venting ever since he laid in the descent Ranma had asked for.

"Aw, dammit! Ryouga!!" Ranma whined.

"Is he???" Shampoo asked, unable to believe the level of stupidity that such a mistake would require.

"…yes…" Ryouga replied meekly.

"THAT IT!!!!!" Shampoo hollered, her hand coming down on her console hard. She leapt from her station and cleared the distance between her post and Ryouga's with the single bound. She instantly had Ryouga's throat in her hands and was strangling him hard. "STUPID BOY GAVE US AWAY!!! I KILL!!!!!"

Before Shampoo had a chance to carry out her threat, a voice came thundering over the com system.

* * *

"Tell me," Cell asked the science officer calmly. "How is it possible that I'm seeing a collection of protons and space gasses venting out of nothing below us?" 

"Umm…" the science officer thought hard. "A cloaked ship is venting their collectors?"

Cell smiled. "Right you are! Now tell me, why am I seeing a Federation drive plasma signature mixed in with the gasses?"

"Umm…" the science officer thought again. "Because the cloaked ship IS Federation."

Cell grinned. "Excellent! Now tell me, why would there be a cloaked Federation ship under us when the treaty of Algeron strictly forbids them to use cloaking technology?"

The Science officer was loving this question game just a little too much as he replied with a grin of his own. "'Cause they just don't give a fuck any more!"

"BINGO!!!" Cell hollered. His grin fell to a snarl, and he swung his arm out, decapitating the science officer with his hand!

"Communications!!" Cell yelled, turning to the com station.

"Sir!" the Com officer replied quickly, not wanting to suffer the same fate as the science officer, whose body fell to the ground to meet its head.

"Open a channel at the venting anomaly!"

"Aye, sir!"

* * *

"You might as well give it up, Goku!!!" Cell's voice thundered through the Wildstar's com speakers. "I know you're there! You also might as well give the amateur who gave you away his dues, because he just made my day!!" 

"SHAMPOO WORKING ON IT!!!" Shampoo hollered back at the com before going back to strangling Ryouga.

Ranma trudged back to his chair. The gig was up. Obviously, if Cell had hailed open space, he had already assumed the Wildstar was cloaked underneath him. The engines passing through gasses vented from the collectors must have left a residual trace signature that Cell was able to identify as Federation.

"The raiders are closing on our position, sir!" Briton called out. "They're taking up positions all around the ship. We can't go in any direction unless we punch a hole."

"Which we can't do cloaked." Goku sighed.

"Shampoo," Ranma said, slumping into his chair. "Take your post. Briton, open a channel ta Cell's ship. If he calls his raiders to attack, drop the cloak before they get a shot out and raise the shields. Don't wait for my order ta do it, either."

Briton nodded. "Aye, sir." The sound of the com channel opening rang through the bridge, and an image of Cell appeared on the viewscreen.

At least, what he could SEE of Cell through Shampoo's ASS!

"COMMANDER!" Ranma hollered at Shampoo. She stopped strangling the nearly unconscious Ryouga and looked at Ranma with plausible innocence. Then, she turned to look at the viewscreen. Cell's face took up most of the twelve foot long by ten foot high screen!

"AAAHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" Shampoo screamed. She was back at her console in no time. The instant release of pressure caused Ryouga to collapse back in his chair, gasping for every breath he took in. It only took him a few seconds to come back to himself enough to distinguish reality from his fading hallucinations. On the viewscreen, Cell was NOT happy.

"So, you ARE there!" He hollered. "Cloaked, no less!! Do you have any idea what you've just DONE!???"

Ranma rubbed his left temple. "I got a pretty good idea, yeah."

"The treaty of Algeron strictly forbids the federation from using any cloaking technology! By breaking this agreement, you are provoking war!!"

Ranma's eyes got a little bigger, and he let his mouth hang open for a moment as he stood and slowly walked closer and closer to the viewscreen.

"I'M provoking war?" He couldn't believe his ears. "Look who's talkin', man-bug!"

Cell snarled, but continued to listen.

"You enlist the Orions ta aid ya in the capture of the Commander in Chief of all of Starfleet, lock him up in your little moon bunker, make idle threats, engage a Federation starship in battle, and then have the gall ta come back ta me and say I'M provoking war??"

Cell wasn't any less irritated. "That is all inconsequential in comparison to what you have done here. The treaty of Algeron-"

" 'Treaty of Algeron whee whee whee whee whee'" Ranma mock imitated Cell. Goku's eyes went wide as he stared at Ranma, unable to believe his captain had the guts to mock 'the baddest bastard in the galaxy'! "Who gives a rat's ass! Look, as of this moment, the Treaty of Algeron is rescinded due ta Romulan involvement in the kidnappin' and imprisonment of the Commander in Chief of Starfleet Command; an act that is a clear attack against the United Federation of Planets' internal security!!"

Cell was speechless. His jaw clenched shut hard, and Ranma could see about a hundred different thoughts pass through the man-bug's eyes before settling on one final conclusion.

"Then if this is the case… The Romulan Empire and the Federation are, as of this moment, at war."

Ranma nodded slowly. "Damned straight they are!"

Cell seemed to straighten himself out. "Then I shall spill the first blood. Communications, order the raiders to attack the source of this transmission!"

That was just the cue Ranma had been waiting for. As Briton punched in the command to uncloak, Ranma whipped around and took large strides back to his chair, the viewscreen behind him going blank with nothing more than a chuckle escaping Cell's lips.

"Red Alert! All Hands Ta Battle Stations!"

* * *

Sergeant Matt Chesterton's head flicked quickly around the corner of a dimly lit corridor. His eyes shot one direction then the other, and then his head disappeared again. 

"two guards at a door facing north, 50 meters. Two at the central entrance at the end of the hall, 80 meters." He whispered to Steven and Mousse.

Steven turned behind himself a little. "Judge," he waived Rear Sergeant Phillip Zurfluh up front. Judge stepped to the front of the line, pulling a little ball off his belt clip. He clicked a button on it, then began to count in his head.

_One… Two… Three… Four! _

He stepped around the corner fast, throwing the little ball, then ducked back behind the corner. The instant the guards reacted, Phillip's mental count hit five, and the little ball sent a silenced flash out in all directions before it even hit the ground. The guards all fell to the floor, unconscious, and the spent stun grenade landed in two perfect halves.

Phillip came around the corner again, rifle forward. He stood at the inner wall kitty corner to the wildcards position and waved them forwards. Steven and Mousse rounded the corner, with Matt and Bones right behind, Privates Bennet and Malgir taking up the rear.

As the group passed the north doors, Steven singled Malgir out, pointing towards the doors twice. Malgir nodded, pulling a type II phaser from his belt. He turned to the north doors and began to weld them together, ensuring their operation would go unhindered from there. As Malgir welded, Matt unclipped a little black rectangle shaped device from his front chest pocket.

"This little baby," he quickly explained to Mousse, "Will blow the central door to high heaven with an added bonus! It'll flash-blind anyone who looks at the explosion. It'll be a good fifteen seconds before they can see again."

"Fifteen seconds?" Mousse made sure he understood correctly. Matt nodded in reply. "I know it doesn't seem like much, but –"

"It's perfect!" Mousse grinned, then gave a nod. Matt placed the device on the door, then pressed a button. The group ran back about twenty meters, and Malgir jogged up to meet them, the north doors successfully welded shut.

Three seconds ticked by before the device went off. The explosion blew a hole in the wall where the door used to be, and Mousse whistled in admiration as the Wildcards ran for the new opening, phaser rifles firing. Sure enough, everyone on the other side of the doors had looked over at the explosion and were all flash blinded. As they fell under the Wildcard's phaser fire, Mousse began to count them, pulling his own phaser rifle down to help. Before the smog had completely cleared, the phaser fire had stopped. Each shot had hit its intended target, and Mousse had counted twenty three separate shots, including his own.

"Not bad!" Mousse was impressed at how well it had worked, regrouping with the Wildcards again and doing a quick head count. From explosion to head count, McCoy had counted nine seconds. There was simply no way anyone could have sounded an alarm, nor opened a communications channel to anyone in particular that quickly!

"All accounted for," Mousse told Steven, who was busy looking around. Finally giving up, he swore and reached for the tricorder at his belt, flipping it open with mild annoyance.

"I hate using these things…" he mumbled. "That way!" He pointed to one of three red doors in the open area. As the group ran in the direction Steven had appointed, McCoy looked around the room they were leaving.

_It must have been the control center of this entire bunker,_ he mused. Silently, he wondered how many of the Orions unconscious on the ground would prove to be resistant to phaser fire and be up and sounding the alarm on their asses in no time flat!

The rest of the incursion went to a 'T', with minimal resistance. Aside from encountering another couple of guards here and there, the team made it to the prison complex with ease.

As the last guard fell under Steven's rifle fire, the group crowded around the cell entrance they were all staring at. Mousse stepped a little closer and pulled out his hand phaser. He pressed a couple of buttons, then aimed it at the door and fired. The beam came out in a perfect tall rectangular shape that expanded outwards the further the beam got from the phaser. It flashed bright three or four times, then clicked out automatically. Mousse stepped up to the door and kicked it, the piece he had been cutting fell into the cell.

He took a quick look inside, then motioned for Steven's team to enter the cell.

"If it's him, he's alone!" Mousse said. Steven and Matt stepped into the cell, followed by Dr. McCoy. Mousse stayed by the entrance with the remaining wildcards, watching intently for anyone who might try and spoil their little party.

"The Commander in Chief, I presume?" Steven asked the man that rose from the bench against the far wall and began to walk towards them. He was wearing a white dress uniform top, and had a cape clipped to his shoulders that was red inside and black outside, and a black gentleman's stick with white tips was slid through his belt, which he grabbed as he approached them, obviously anticipating a need to defend himself.

His hand fell back to his side, however, upon sight of Dr. McCoy entering the cell, medical tricorder blaring to check his health.

"Admiral Darien Shields," The man replied. "Commander in Chief, Starfleet Command."

"He's Ok," Bones piped up, closing his tricorder.

"As long as no one cares about formalities," Mousse turned at the cell entrance to call into the cell. "Maybe we could get the hell outta here now?"

Everyone turned and headed for the cell entrance without another word. Yes, it was time to get gone! The CinC was OK, and that was all that mattered. Now, they had to reach the beam out point and signal for extraction.

Mousse herded them out of the cell quickly, and they all made tracks back the way they came, Mousse and Bennet turning every now and then to check behind.

* * *

OK, so I know it's a bit shorter than normal, but I think I'll end up making up for that with the next chapter. 

Up next, the battle begins! Once again, it's time for that review thingy! Let me know what you think of my crazy writings...

MattSaotome


	8. Chapter 7:The Hand That Rocks The Cradle

And the long awaited showdown!

* * *

Chapter 7

The Hand That Rocks The Cradle

The Wildstar bucked again, and Ranma stood from her chair to run to Shampoo's console. A large water stain on the chest of her uniform brought to light an incident that had occurred earlier in the attack, the water glass shattered beside the command chair.

"Report?" she asked firmly. "They weren't this tough a minute ago!"

Shampoo looked up at Ranma. "They hide strong weapons from Shampoo's first scan!" She explained. "Now they using them!"

"Captain!" Briton called. "Begging your pardon, sir… uh, ma'am… ummm…"

"PICK ONE!!" Ranma hollered at Briton, not really caring which any more, only hating the fact that people had to think about it!

"Yes, ma'am!" Briton nodded. "Begging your pardon, but maybe we should start using some stronger weapons of our own?"

"No!" Ranma hollered, heading back for her chair. "Stick ta the conventional weapons for now. We can still beat 'em this way, it's just gonna take a little more time!"

"Why the hell do you even want that option!??" Ryouga called across the bridge at Ranma. "If we have the capability to blow 'em sky high right the hell now, then WHY DON'T WE??"

"It's not that simple!" Ranma replied. "This is all about chess!"

The bridge rocked a bit again, and the sounds of beeping from the tactical console indicated that Briton was hurriedly returning fire.

"CHESS!???" Ryouga turned in his seat. "This isn't a board game, you dumbass!! We need to kick some serious butt here!!"

Ranma sighed at having to explain herself yet again. "If Cell has any crazy weapons, I want him ta see how good of a fight we put up with what we got. Then, when he whips out his 'bad man-bug' card that's suppos'ta show us how insignificant we really are, I wanna turn around and Raid his ass with what I got stashed, just like I did ta his aunt and uncle in my dad's back yard last week!!! We'll get a chance ta use the new weapons, just not yet!!"

Ryouga thought about this for a moment, then nodded in agreement. "Alright, I guess that makes sense." He grumbled as he turned back to his station, upset that he hadn't been successful in making Ranma look stupid.

"There goes the second raider, captain!" Briton called out.

Ranma nodded. "So far… not bad."

"If things keep up like this," Goku spoke, leaning towards Ranma. "We may not get the chance to hold back our firepower. Unless a small miracle happens, that is!"

"The forth raider is heading straight for us!!!" Briton suddenly hollered. Ranma snapped her head up to look at the viewscreen. Sure enough, the forth raider was on a kamikaze course with the Wildstar! As Briton slammed shot after shot into it, blowing away little bits and pieces of it, the raider came in contact with the Wildstar's shields.

The ship began to shake hard, and the odd person on the bridge was thrown to the ground.

"Orions causing friction rubbing ship against our shields!" Shampoo hollered over the noise of straining shield generators and failing hull integrity. "If they no stop, they arc-ignite their warp core! Explosion take us with them!!"

"HOW ABOUT NOW??" Ryouga hollered across the bridge at Ranma again. Just as Ranma was about to give in to Ryouga's insistence, something totally unexpected happened.

A tractor beam grabbed the raider on the viewscreen and threw it away from the Wildstar, followed by a barrage of weapons fire that would have made even Mousse proud! The raider was blown sky high!

Half the bridge crew were speechless and dumbfounded.

"Incoming transmission!" Briton exclaimed, not particularly caring who it ended up being, just intent on thanking them hand and foot. "I… I think it's… Starfleet…?"

"On screen!" Ranma hopped out of her chair. As the viewer came to life, Goku cried out in surprise and leapt from his chair as well, a grin growing on his face.

"Hey, Dad!" Gohan chuckled on the viewer, Trunks standing right behind him. "Need a hand?"

"Oh, boy, do I ever!!" Goku couldn't stop grinning. "Gimme a sec! Switch to external view, Computer! I wanna see your ship, Gohan!"

Ranma had to smile as well at the thought of her first officer's son coming flying to their aid in a…

A…

…What was that thing, anyways? As the bridge officers looked at the strange half breed ship on their viewscreen, Gohan's voice in the background explained what they were looking at.

"She came into the Fleetyards as an Ambassador class starship, stripped of… well, pretty much everything, but still in immaculate condition. I added another hundred and ten meters onto it and leaned the neck out a bit more. Trunks removed the old engines, mounts and all, and installed Sovereign class engines instead. He just couldn't resist adding the third!"

"You have transwarp coils!?" Goku was certain that was what was coming next.

"Heh, Yep!" Trunks' voice came over the com system now. "She's got a top speed of warp 12. Still not as fast as you guys, but… next week, maybe! Also, she's armed to the teeth. No Triphasic torpedos, no type 7 phaser banks, but everything else underneath that… we've pretty much got it. Photons, quantums, type 4, 5 and 6 phasers… yeah! She's loaded!"

The Wildstar rocked hard again. On the viewscreen, Gohan's ship was also under fire from the raiders.

"Captain," Briton piped up. "The Deridex warbirds are on the move now. I guess that Gohan's arrival suddenly made this fight more worth their while, or something?"

Ranma snorted in disgust. "All a part of Cell's plan, no doubt!"

The viewscreen flicked back over to show Gohan and Trunks standing behind their helmsman on their bridge. "So it really is him, then?" Trunks scowled. "On that… larger warbird?"

Ranma nodded. "Yeah, the man-bug's on the Kalax, alright. Interested in a little pest control?"

Gohan and Trunks grinned with furrowed brows. "Bring it on!" Gohan snickered.

"Deridex warbirds now 2000 kilometers and closing." Briton said. "Raiders are coming around for another pass."

"Back ta work!" Ranma said confidently, turning back to her chair. Goku followed suit with a nod, and the two sat down. On the viewscreen, Gohan and Trunks had also taken their seats. Instead of a single captain's chair on their bridge, there were two chairs side by side, each looking equally as comfy as the other in Ryouga's eyes! It was obvious that they shared the captaincy.

"Ready when you are, Wildstar!" Trunks cheered. The viewscreen flicked back to an image of Gohan and Trunks' invention, before Ryouga's helm work veered them out of sight to take on more Raiders.

"Deridex have joined battle!" Shampoo reported.

"Inform Gohan and Trunks that we should focus on getting' rid of the raiders first." Ranma said to Briton. "They might not be as powerful as the Deridex warbirds, but they'll definitely be more annoyin' if we leave 'em alone!"

"Understood," Briton replied, sending Ranma's message out. A few seconds ticked by. "They're responding, and are targeting the nearest Raider, Captain."

"Right on." Ranma almost crowed. "Gang up on whatever ship they're attackin'!"

"Aye," Briton and Ryouga both replied.

"Damage report, Mr. Jorgensen!" Goku asked, swinging his chair around to face her station. Dana punched a couple of commands into her console, then turned to face Goku.

"Minimal stress damage to a few shield generators. The backups have come on-line, so the shield grid is holding fine at 79." She explained. "Once again, a few fried control circuits have kept them from operating at peak efficiency. Crews are on it now. Hopefully, this time, they'll last longer. If they fry again, we may have to replace them as faulty circuits.

"Also, there was medium damage taken to structural integrity when the raider laid into us. She'll be a little wobbly until the crews get to that. I'll let you know."

Goku nodded, then swung back to face the front of the bridge. On the viewscreen, the raider Gohan was taking on had come into view. A few well trained commands to the weapons from Briton's console had them right in on the action. Not a minute passed by before the raider went up in smoke. Beside Goku, Ranma grinned.

"I'm no expert, commander," Ranma began, "but I think your son and his friend have made one hell of a good ship!!"

Goku had to laugh. "That's what they do, Captain!"

"Moving to target two." Briton reported.

"Minor damage reports coming in, Ranma." Shampoo reported. "… nothing important right now. Structural integrity field holding."

Ryouga worked the helm controls in a state of heavy concentration. The Wildstar had never pointed in any single direction the entire battle, Ryouga unable to get her to fly straight with all the course corrections he was making, but it had been enough for Briton to get target locks, and that was all that mattered. Right about now, he was wishing the manual steering column still existed. Sweat trickled down his face from his forehead as he triple checked every course he laid in. Ranma had better be happy with his performance! If not… Ryouga grinned to himself as he pictured what he'd do to his captain!

The moments flew by with intensity, each person on the bridge putting out their best. The second last raider was quickly dealt with, and the two ships moved on to the last. An inexplicable shudder had begun that was barely registering on Dana's console. She had ascertained it to be part of the structural damage the ship had received, confident that it would be repaired before too long was up. Soon, she was turning to face Goku and Ranma.

"Control circuits have been repaired. They weren't as badly damaged as we'd thought, so the Raiders are actually packing a bit of a wallop. Shields are running at 88 now. Structural integrity damage has been reduced to minimal from medium. Those two phaser banks that went out are available again."

Briton's face lit up a bit. "Awesome!" he laughed. "I was missing those pretty hard!!"

Dana just smiled. "I aim to please." With that, she turned back to her station, humming a little tune that had been stuck in her head all day like the fight around them didn't even exist! _Now to do something about that damned shudder…_

"Engineering to bridge!" Vegeta's voice rang through the speakers.

"Go ahead, Vegeta." Goku replied as the Wildstar engaged the last raider with Gohan's assistance.

* * *

There was acrid smoke spreading through half the engineering section. A masked Vegeta was grabbing an extinguisher hose, running for the extra large panel in the rear wall that housed the plasma relay cells. As soon as he was close enough, he pressed on the trigger, letting the panel have it! 

"We're burning deuterium down here from something, Kakarot!" Vegeta spoke loud through the mask. "If we don't find the source, we're gonna blow our cells out! The raiders won't be a problem when the panel Arcs and the ship goes sky high!!"

Engineering teams were masking up as quickly as they could, heading in to repair the scorched panel.

* * *

"Captain, I've got a propulsion drain." Ryouga reported. "Upper port nacelle is not responding." 

"…What?" Dana turned to look at Ryouga for a quick second before looking back to her panel in confusion. "…That can't be right."

"All weapons banks in the upper port quadrant of the ship aren't responding either, Captain!" Briton sounded frantic.

"Shields in that quadrant beginning to fail, Ranma!" Shampoo was also lost for an explanation.

"What the hell is going on!?" Ranma made a bee line for the engineering console. On the large panel display, Dana zoomed in to the upper port quadrant of the ship. It was flashing red as if it had been under heavy attack this whole time.

"…Waidaminute!" Ranma had a brain storm. She quickly headed over to Shampoo's console. She pressed a few buttons, then skipped over to the helm station. She punched in a few more commands, then turned to the tactical station.

"Gimme a visual on the upper port quadrant of the ship." She instructed.

Briton nodded, entering the command. The viewscreen flipped over to a view out the back of the saucer section, pointed towards the upper port nacelle. On the other side of it, there was an obvious sensor distortion. It was rippling hard just past other side of the nacelle.

"Damn!" Ranma cursed. "Still not tuned enough ta see it!"

Goku was flabbergasted. "How did you know…?"

"The engineerin' display read that quadrant as 'heavily damaged', almost like it had been under constant attack. Whatever that distortion is, it's probably got a positive weapons lock on the primary control junction runnin' just under the upper nacelle brace. I figured that if it made sense… look for it! They've most likely tuned their shields ta match our engine emissions. Add a little sensor scatterin', and a constant disruptor blast to that junction at a low yield so the computer doesn't think it's under attack, and ya get all the problems we're havin'!!"

Goku shook his head in amazement. "They've probably been back there for at least five minutes!" He tapped his com badge.

"Goku to Battle Ops, is there a ship out your rear window shooting at us?"

"One moment, sir." A voice replied. A few short seconds passed before the voice came back. "Positive ID on a Deridex warbird in the upper port quadrant back here, Commander."

"Hehey!" Dana crowed. "That's what's causing all this shit!"

"Kill warbird!!" Shampoo hollered loudly.

Briton's fingers flew over his console gracefully. "I can get a lock, but we need something to shake 'em before I can fire. They're too close to that engine for me to risk firing now."

Ranma grinned. He could arrange that! No problem!

"Hey, Ryouga!" She yelled. "Hard right!"

Ryouga shrugged as he laid it in. "Aye, sir."

Ranma snickered internally as the Wildstar bucked Hard LEFT, just as she had expected. Man, she was getting way too good at predicting Ryouga's flub ups!

"HAH!" Briton laughed out loud. "Shook 'em! Firing!"

"Gohan reports last raider destroyed!" Shampoo said. "Now coming to help us with warbird!"

"Understood." Ranma acknowledged. "Let 'em have it, Briton!"

The Wildstar let out a heavy barrage of weapons fire as Gohan's ship closed in and continued with the attack. The warbird's shields glowed heavy green as the weapons made contact. It quickly cloaked as it began to turn, fading away into space and out of detection.

"Damn!" Briton swore at the viewscreen. "Well, at least it's not behind us any more."

"Bridge to engineering, report?" Ranma ordered.

"Stand by, bridge." Vegeta's strong voice replied.

"Captain, the other warbird is taking up position beside Cell's ship. Safe to say the one that cloaked is heading that way as well."

Ranma nodded. _So it's ta be an old fashioned face off, then._

"Helm, bring us ta bare on Cell's ship, then come to a stop." Ranma sat back in her chair. "Unless he fires first, don't do nothin'. Maybe now he wants ta talk!"

Ryouga grumbled as he did as he was told. The Wildstar coasted over to Cell's ship, coming to a rather abrupt stop just a few kilometers in front of it. Gohan's ship took up a defensive posture beside them.

"Engineering to bridge," Vegeta's voice sounded over the com.

"Go ahead," Goku answered.

"The plasma relay cells are damaged, but still operating at 70 efficiency. We won't be going to high warp for at least a few hours, but nothing more serious than that. I've got a repair crew on that junction the warbird was firing on. Looks like it could be about twenty minutes before that's functioning properly again. It's pretty banged up."

"Acknowledged." Goku replied. "Ryouga, do your best to keep anything from going after our port side until Vegeta's repairs are completed."

Ryouga nodded understanding. "I'll try, Commander."

On the viewscreen, the third warbird de-cloaked beside Cell's ship, as expected. Ranma took in a deep breath. Goku straightened his tunic. Ryouga made himself as comfortable as possible in his chair. Hummer drummed his fingers on the side of his console, also taking the opportunity to get comfortable. Shampoo took a moment to look away from her console, giving her tired eyes a break. Briton began to crack his knuckles one at a time. Dana hummed quietly to herself, standing from her station to lean a bit on the rail behind Ranma's chair.

The tension on the bridge began to fade slowly as everyone was given a minute to breathe. They wouldn't worry about the warbirds now, just breathe for a bit to get a fresh take on everything. Ranma, along with a few other officers, closed her eyes. She began breathing deep in Kata, allowing the feeling of complete calm to flow through her bloodstream. A moment later, she finished and opened her eyes. Goku was looking at her with a blank expression, just waiting for her to finish.

"Feel better, Captain?" Goku said quietly.

Ranma nodded. "You have no idea!"

Finally, Briton's console beeped at him.

"Cell's ship is hailing, ma'am." He reported.

Ranma gave a single slow nod. "Open a channel," she said, straightening herself out a bit and tugging on her tunic, finding that it hugged her chest quite a bit more than she liked!

The viewscreen flicked to an image of Cell. He was standing tall with his arms crossed over his chest. The look on his face was not anger, nor was it frustration. Instead, he looked at them as he would regard a worthy opponent.

"Well played, Captain." Cell complimented. "Your tactics against the raiders were brilliant, as were those of your new arrival." As Cell said this, the viewscreen split down the middle to accommodate a three-way transmission between the Wildstar, Cell's ship, and Gohan's ship. Gohan and Trunks looked at Cell from their chairs with the same calm attitude as Ranma and Goku.

"I feel obligated, however, to warn you." Cell continued to speak. "The Deridex warbirds at my side are not your average ones. They harbor a host of new technologies that they are testing. You are outshipped and outgunned. There is no dishonor in turning back now. You have fought valiantly. Your superiors will understand that you could not possibly continue the fight in your ship's present condition. Live to fight another day, captain."

Ranma sat forward in her chair.

"I think you're giving yourself too much credit, Man-bug. I'm not dead yet. I dunno what ya think you've been able to do ta my ship, but I should let you know that we got quite a bit of fight left in us."

"If there's anyone who can bring you down for the crimes you have committed," Goku spoke up now. "It's us, Cell. You forced this to happen by your actions, and there's no turning back from that."

On the screen, Gohan and Trunks nodded in agreement.

Cell chuckled quietly. "How do you expect your two ships to stand the pounding from my warbirds? Not just the Deridex's, but mine as well?"

Trunks laughed a little now, bringing Cell to a halt. "TWO ships?" he grinned. "What sensor data have YOU been looking at, Cell? My last count was three!"

Cell raised an eyebrow, if that's what you could call the bumps he had above his eyes.

Ranma smiled a little as her hand pressed buttons quickly on the panel on her chair's left arm. Instantly, Hummer's console beeped lightly at him. He hit a few commands, then read what popped up.

'CapRan: initiate separation sequence.'

Hummer smiled a bit to himself, entering the appropriate commands. The deck under their feet gave a quick little tremor as the star drive separated from the saucer.

* * *

On the viewscreen, Cell's head snapped to the side to look at a display to the left of him. 

"…What the hell!?" He commented.

* * *

Ranma looked to Briton quickly, giving the sign to cut the transmission. The viewscreen blipped back to the star field. Ranma stood. 

"Number one, you have the saucer. Mr. Hummer, Mr. Briton, you're with me."

"Aye, sir." Came three replies.

Hummer and Briton quickly punched replacement requests into their consoles and went to stand by Ranma.

"Computer, three to beam to the battle bridge." Ranma said, knowing that, while they were close enough to the star drive, the two ships were still sharing the same shield grid, making transport possible.

The three of them faded away in a transporter glimmer, just as the turbolift doors opened. Lt. Kevin Van Battum stepped off the lift and moved to take the tactical station, followed by Lt. Chesterton, who replaced Hummer at the con.

* * *

On the battle bridge, Ranma, Hummer and Briton materialized. Ranma immediately took her chair and punched the console on her right. 

"Battle bridge ta engineering, separation sequence is complete."

"Acknowledged, Captain." Vegeta's voice replied. "All commands routed through the battle bridge now."

"Ten four!" Ranma said. She hit another button. "Side engineer and con officer ta the battle bridge!"

The systems came on-line around them, and Hummer wasted no time in swinging the star drive section around to stand beside the saucer section. Briton quickly brought the main weapons controls up, customizing his panel in a heartbeat.

A lieutenant and an ensign stepped off the turbolift and quickly took their places, keying in their access codes and getting straight to work.

"Battle Drive ta Saucer Section," Ranma called.

"Go ahead, Captain." Goku's voice came over the com.

"Deploy engines and weapons tray."

"Understood."

* * *

Cell's mouth dropped slowly. As if it wasn't enough that the Wildstar separated saucer before his very eyes, he now watched as the saucer sprouted a pair of warp nacelles and a weapons platform! 

"…God damned thing's a Reliant class in a box!!" He cursed. "…No matter. Tactical, prepare to engage the Wildstar's battle section. Order the flanking warbirds to attack the ships closest to them on my next command!"

"Yes, sir!" the tactical officer replied quickly.

* * *

"Charge all weapons banks," Ranma ordered. "Bring triphasic launchers on-line, as well as the Plasma phase cannons." 

"No problem!" Briton replied. Ranma quickly studied her panel and nodded in approval. The saucer section was doing the exact same thing.

_Time ta bear our teeth and growl!_ Ranma thought to herself.

"Hail Goku and Gohan."

"Aye, sir." Con replied. "Channel open."

"Ok, guys," Ranma began. "We'll run the Riker series on this son of a bitch. If that doesn't work, since he's already seen most of it once, then go old fashioned on his ass and just pick a direction!"

"Aye, Captain." Came Goku's reply.

"No problem, Captain!" Trunks sounded eager.

On the viewscreen, Ranma watched the warbirds break formation, heading towards them.

"Now!!" Ranma yelled.

The three warbirds made beelines for their intended targets. In response, Ranma's fleet split in different directions, flying circles around the warbirds like hawks circling their prey. Shots began to fly back and forth, and shields began to glow.

The Deridex after the saucer was easily outmatched as far as maneuverability went, but with only one failing: Ryouga's flying. The saucer was a little clumsy, barely managing to hold ground over the warbird. Shots flew from the dorsal side, type 7 phaser fire mixing with the plasma phase cannons. The warbird responded hotly, throwing it's own improved weapons at the saucer. It bucked side to side a few times under the assault, but just kept coming back for more in the end. As the top of the saucer came to bear on the warbird, Triphasic torpedos shot out in great numbers, slamming into it's shields with the final few shots punching through to blow bits of the warbird off its hull and expose the innards beneath.

Gohan's ship flew at full impulse in any direction, the warbird hugging the back of the ship like nothing else mattered, persistently staying on their tail. Several shots flew from the warbird, some missing, but most impacting with the aft shields of Gohan's ship. They surged bright blue as they absorbed the weapons fire, only the odd shot actually managing to penetrate her shields. It seemed the Deridex was unshakable. Gohan's ship continued to weave through space, however, finally outmaneuvering the warbird and bringing her weapons to bear. What she lacked in weapons quality, the ambassador class hybrid made up for in number. Seven separate launchers threw photon and quantum torpedos at the warbird in harmony with three different phaser types. The warbird veered off, plasma beginning to burn hot out of its port nacelle.

The Battle Drive of the Wildstar went head on with the Kalax warbird, a rapid exchange of fire occurring between them before both ships veered in opposite directions to begin their own battle dance. Triphasic torpedos rang through space in concert with plasma phase cannon fire, the two ships relentlessly hammering at each other.

The battle to start a war, as surely as the hand that rocks the cradle, had begun.

* * *

Steven quickly surveyed the final corridor. Once he was satisfied that no one was there, he signaled to the others to follow and ran forward. As the group came to the end of the corridor, the door before them slid open, revealing their extraction point. 

"Go!" Steven said quickly. Everyone ran into the room to stand in the middle. Mousse reached under his tunic and produced another com badge, which he handed to the Admiral. Darien quickly slapped the badge onto his chest as Matt hailed the Wildstar.

"Blackjack to Wildstar. Standing by for extraction." He said.

A moment passed in silence before the reply came through his badge.

"Stand by, Blackjack. We are currently engaging the Romulans."

Worried looks shot around between the group, and Mousse was the first to state the obvious.

"Cell found them!"

* * *

Panels blew out along the side of the bridge on Cell's warbird. He shielded his eyes from the sparks before pointing a finger to his engineer. 

"Get a team up here to repair this damage!" He hollered. "What are they firing at us?"

The tactical officer quickly answered him. "Triphasic torpedos and high yield plasma phase cannons!"

Cell snarled loudly. "Get back on their tail!!"

"Sir!" The communications officer spoke up. "I'm getting a transmission to the Wildstar's battle section from the bunker!"

Cell's eyes went wide. They had gotten a team down after all! Most likely before his arrival. How could he have been so stupid not to check for it? There were many things that angered him, but falling short of his own imperfections brought him to the brink of blind rage!

"WHAT!??" He bellowed. "SEND THE BUNKER'S DESTRUCT CODES NOW!!! I WANT IT REDUCED TO DUST!!!"

"Aye, sir!" The communications officer replied, going to work.

* * *

"Saucer to battle drive, we've finished the first warbird off, Captain." Goku's happy news came over the speakers on the battle bridge. 

"Well done, Number One!" Ranma cheered. "Wildcards have signaled for extraction. Go get 'em!"

"Understood."

"Cell's shields are failing!" Briton yelled, several coolant lines having ruptured on the bridge moments before.

"Target his weapons systems!" Ranma called back.

"Aye, sir!"

The battle drive bucked hard as another volley from Cell's ship impacted her shields.

"Shields at 36 percent, but still holding!" the Lt. at the engineering station reported.

"Lay inta him, Mr. Briton!" Ranma ordered. "Don't blow him away, just take out his weapons and engines!"

"Yes, Ma'am!" Briton smiled.

* * *

"Ryouga, bring us to bear on the bunker." Goku instructed. "Bridge to transporter room three, prepare for extraction under fire!" 

Three seconds passed quickly.

"Understood, Bridge. Standing by."

"In position!" Ryouga was getting jumpy, the battle having frayed most of his nerves.

"Drop shields. Chief, energize!"

* * *

Just when Mousse was preparing to hail the Wildstar again, Sergeant Zurfluh disappeared in a transporter flurry. Smiles quickly spread around the group, and a couple of the Wildcards laughed a little to shake the nervousness from their systems. Steven tapped his com badge. 

"Ace to Wildstar, take the CinC next. At least then we know for sure the jailbreak was a success."

"Understood, Commander." Came Chief Carver's reply. Not two seconds later, the Admiral was beamed away. At his side, McCoy's tricorder beeped loudly at him. He quickly removed it and opened it. The device whined at him like it was dying, and McCoy's eyes went wide as he realized why.

"The bunker's power systems are building to detonation!!" He exclaimed. Steven was at his side in an instant checking the doctor's tricorder.

"…Shit!! Ace to Wildstar, you'd better step on it! I recon we've got about a minute before this whole bunker is nothing but a memory!"

"What's going on, Commander?" Goku's voice sounded as the transporter took Sergeant Chesterton.

"Looks like someone tripped a destruct sequence in the Bunker's power systems. They're building to an overload."

"Understood." Goku answered.

* * *

Ranma turned quickly in her chair to face the helm station again. "Lay in a course for the saucer section. Run the auto-docking once we're there." 

"Aye, sir." Hummer replied.

"Report, Briton." She turned to face tactical.

"Cell's ship is shut down as far as weapons go. His engines aren't out, but he'll definitely be hobbling home."

"Damage report," Ranma faced the engineering console.

"Two triphasic launchers down, three phaser banks. All the plasma cannons are working… shields still at… 19. Several junctions have taken heavy damage, but all are repairable in flight mode… I'd say we could have taken on a few more raiders with this, sir."

Ranma breathed a sigh of relief and nodded. "Good. Let's just get back ta bein' a whole ship!"

* * *

The last of the Wildcards beamed out, leaving Commander Stoltz alone in the extraction room. He looked around nervously, then flipped his tricorder open again. He flicked his eyebrows at the display, then closed it again. Time did not look like something he had any of!

* * *

"Everyone but Commander Stoltz is back on board, Commander." Lt. Kevin reported. 

"Let's not leave him hanging. Transporter room three, beam Commander Stoltz-"

The saucer rocked hard, and sparks flew as a few panels exploded, coolant lines rupturing all around the bridge.

"BELAY LAST ORDER!!" Goku yelled as he stood again. "RAISE SHIELDS!"

* * *

"They're hit!" the man at the tactical station reported. 

"Shit!" Trunks swore under his breath. They had lost the last warbird when she went under cloak not two minutes before. It was now all too obvious what they had in mind.

"Is there anyone left on the surface?" Gohan asked.

"Commander Stoltz is still down there." The Ops man reported.

"Open fire!" Trunks and Gohan said together.

* * *

The battle section shuddered as it came up under the saucer section. In response to the auto-dock protocols, the saucer's engines retracted, allowing the cobra head of the battle drive to glide up underneath with plenty of maneuvering room. The sound of lift housings latching onto the saucer filled the battle bridge, and Ranma was on her feet in an instant. 

"Computer, shut down battle bridge! Beam me ta the main bridge!"

* * *

"Battle Drive docked!" Shampoo reported. 

"Gohan has taken on the remaining warbird!" Kevin said.

Goku was just happy to be one ship again as he called to the now available transporter room.

"Bridge to transporter room four! Beam Commander Stoltz on board NOW!!"

Ranma materialized on the bridge and stepped immediately up to Goku.

"Did we get 'em all?"

"Almost…" Goku looked worried. That made Ranma worry.

"Transporter 4 to bridge. The bunker's power surge is interfering with transport. We gotta get closer!"

Goku was all over it. He stepped up to the helm.

"You're relieved, Mr. Hibiki." Ryouga didn't argue, quickly surrendering his post to Goku. Goku's hands flew over the console with obvious skill, and the image of the moon and bunker loomed closer on the viewer.

* * *

Steven was sweating bullets. His tricorder cried at him again, and he flipped it open. 

"Oh, shit!" He breathed. At the other end of the bunker, an explosion went off that rocked the entire complex. Steven fought to stay standing, slapping his com badge hard.

"Ace to Wildstar, I'm out of time! It's now or never!!"

As another explosion sounded through the bunker, the reply came to him.

"We're right around the corner!!!"

"STEP ON IT!!" Steven hollered as panels around him began to blow out.

* * *

The Wildstar flew gracefully down, passing over the bunker with five meters to spare! Goku's hands worked the helm at a speed only Ranma could keep up with. They sailed towards the extraction point at full impulse. 

"Bridge, I have a lock!!" Came the transporter room's cry.

"ENERGIZE!!" Ranma and Goku hollered together. Beneath the ship, the bunker suddenly exploded hard, and the Wildstar was thrown back out into orbit, the underside of the hull scorched badly. The instant the shaking died down and panels had stopped exploding, Goku was on his feet.

"Transporter 4, do you have him??"

* * *

Steven was breathing hard, leaning over himself with his hands on his knees. He smiled a bit sheepishly as he looked up at the transporter lieutenant. He nodded as sweat ran down his face from the flash heat of the explosion. 

"Yeah…" he stood to make his way out. "They got me!"

That said, he headed out the door, gradually picking up the pace as he headed for the bridge.

* * *

Goku slumped back into the helm seat, and Ranma breathed out heavy, heading for her own chair. As she fell into it, the tactical panel chirped. Lt. Kevin looked down at it. 

"Cell's ship is hailing us." He said.

Ranma sat up straight with a little difficulty, the lack of sleep and battle weighing heavily on her.

"On screen."

"DO YOU REALIZE WHAT YOU'VE DONE???" Cell was beyond pissed!

Ranma chortled. "Kicked your ass, I believe!"

"I won't be beaten like this, Captain!" Cell retorted. "I'll be back!!"

Ranma grinned. "I'll be waitin'!"

"How can you have played me like this?!" Cell demanded. "I underestimated you at every turn! TELL ME HOW!??"

Steven ran out of the turbolift on the left side of the bridge, breathing hard from his run. He came to a halt as Ranma answered Cell.

"Cell, you've been set up from the get go. Section 31 set us ALL up!"

Steven's head snapped around to glare at the back of Ranma's.

"They arranged for the CinC ta be so easily captured by you. They sent my ship ta retrieve him with a cloaking device installed. They've rigged this whole quadrant for war, and we've played right inta their hands."

Cell snarled. "Who is Section 31?!"

Ranma chuckled. "Well, If I knew that, I wouldn't be havin' this conversation with ya, now, would I?" she sighed as she leaned back. "Look, Man-bug, I'm tired. I've had a long night, and I'm done starin' at your ugly bug-mug! I'm goin' home. You just sit and stew for a while."

Ranma signaled for Kevin to close the transmission, and the image of Cell vanished with a holler of rage.

"Number One, regroup with Gohan's ship and we'll set a course for home!" Ranma yawned, realizing just how comfy her chair was…

Behind her, Steven breathed hard, still staring at her with eyes that could pierce the thickest barriers of most men. It was all too obvious that Ranma had enraged him. He turned with a clenched jaw and entered the turbolift again. He muttered something as the doors closed, and was gone.

Things had just taken a turn for the worst!

* * *

::ducks frying pans and various fruits:: Ouch! OK, OK, I know! No ground battle between Cell and the Saiyans! I'm just not quite ready for that yet... I can tell you, however, that in true Cell fassion, he probably got so pissed that he blew himself and his warbird sky high in a fit of rage! This doesn't mean, however, that he won't be back, as he said! By the time he is... maybe I'll have actually learned how to write a fight sequence between people instead of ships! 

Still, any comments you have would be greatly appreciated in the reviews section. Now that mission 1 is winding down to a close, I have ta come up with some good ideas for mission 2. All I know is: Heavy section 31 involvement!!

OK, review away, folks!

MattSaotome


	9. Mission 1 Epilogue

Alright! This chapter's quite a bit shorter than my norm, but it's just to wrap up the first mission. I've already gotten started on the second one, and I'll have a new chapter up again damned near right away! So, to wrap up the first mission, here's the next installment!

OH! And for those of you who haven't yet, read the changes to 'Chapter 5: All Good Things' in order for some of this to make sense!

MattSaotome

* * *

Mission 1 Epilogue

Gohan's ship sailed along beside the Wildstar with ease. There were several scorch marks spread out over both ships, and obvious battle damage scarred the otherwise perfect surfaces of their hulls.

In his ready room, Ranma was making his report to Starfleet. That meant he was talking to his dad. Not something that Ranma enjoyed doing.

"So the Wildcards were successful in recoverin' the CinC, but we barely got Commander Stoltz outta the bunker. We've got some heavy cosmetic damage to the underside of the hull, but the rest of the damage can be repaired by our own engineerin' crew."

On the monitor before him, Genma snickered. "All because you let yourself get caught!"

Ranma stood up, instantly mad. "I TOLD you, Oyaji! It was that stupid twit you assigned me for a helmsman, Ryouga! HE'S the one who somehow got 'Descend 500 meters' mixed up with 'Oh, and why don'tcha just go ahead and vent the bussard collectors while you're at it'!"

Genma sighed deep. "Well, my boy, it sounds like you and your crew still have a lot to go through."

Ranma sat back down with a huff. "Understatement!"

"Either way, I want the Wildstar to pull into the nearest port for repairs and some staff additions. We need your ship back out in the field sooner than your engineers can handle on their own."

Ranma nodded, going all business on his father. "The nearest starbase is 146. We'll be able to pull in there in about five hours."

Genma nodded on the monitor. "Then make it so, Ranma."

The monitor blipped to the UFP logo, then turned off. On the couch across from Ranma, Goku and Vegeta were grinning and shaking their heads.

Ranma sighed heavy, then noticed them doing it. "…What?"

"Your father is a real piece of work, Ranma!" Goku laughed.

"What he said!" Vegeta chuckled.

Ranma rolled his eyes. "You guys have no idea! This wasn't even the tip of the iceberg!"

The door chime rang, and Ranma looked over to the entrance.

"Come," he said.

The doors opened, and Gohan and Trunks walked into the ready room. Ranma smiled almost immediately.

"What's up, guys?" He asked.

Trunks shrugged. "We're about ready to get under way, Captain."

Ranma gave a single nod. "Any time ya wanna come back, you're more than welcome! I don't have ta tell ya that the battle coulda been lost without your help!"

Gohan went a little red, but Trunks stood tall with pride. He knew it! They were the best as far as civilians went! He'd settle for nothing less!

"Of course they were welcome help!" Vegeta stood, his expression somewhat stern. "If there's anything I think I taught my son, it's how to stand proud as a warrior!"

Vegeta looked at Trunks with pride writ all over his face. Trunks face didn't change, but his eyes were hugging Vegeta for all he was worth, knowing that Vegeta considered any open signs of affection to be weak.

"Thanks, Dad!"

Goku wasn't nearly as held back as Vegeta and Trunks as he stood up and gave Gohan a quick hug. He pulled back and put his hands on Gohan's shoulders.

"So when the hell did this happen?" He asked with a smile.

"Well, you know…" Gohan searched for a good explanation. "I just take what people give me and… well, make it better!"

Goku laughed. "Well… any ship that can stand alongside this one and fight is certainly a good ship!"

"Thanks, Dad!" Gohan grinned. Then he turned to face Ranma, and Trunks followed suit.

"Only one question remains." Vegeta spoke again. Everyone turned to face him. "Well, do we keep calling it 'Gohan and Trunks ship'? Or did you prefer 'Ambassador class hybrid'?"

Gohan and Trunks chuckled. Then, Gohan looked over to Goku.

"We named the ship 'Iccarus'."

Goku nodded. The name belonged to a pet Gohan had as a boy. It seemed only fitting that his first ship take the same name.

Vegeta gave a single nod, the name's origin not lost on him, either. "A good name."

Ranma stood and extended his hand, shaking Gohan's first, then Trunks'.

"Well guys, I wish you safe voyages! Don't let it be too long before we do this again!"

The two chuckled in reply to Ranma's comment, then turned and left the ready room. Not moments later, they beamed back to their ship and laid in a departure course.

In space, the Iccarus pulled away from the Wildstar slowly, continuing its flight in whichever direction Gohan and Trunks felt like pointing.

* * *

From somewhere deep within the bowels of the Wildstar, a single voice cried out to be heard. The voice of a certain helmsman, still learning how to find his way. 

"WHERE AM I NOW?????"

"Sickbay." A voice beside him replied calmly. All of a sudden, Ryouga's expression changed from frustration to that of worry and fear. A dopey grin appeared on his face as he slowly turned his head to face the person who spoke.

"Uhhh… Ah… AKANE! Umm… Hi, how ARE you? Nice day out ISN'T IT?!? …Ahhehehehehehehehhhh…"

* * *

Ranma was walking down the corridor heading in the direction of main engineering. As he walked, his brow furrowed slowly, several banging noises coming to his ears that were growing in intensity. At the last second, he jumped away from the wall beside him, just as Ryouga's head broke through it, the rest of his body concealed somewhere on the other side of the bulkhead. 

Ranma's eyes went wide, and he stepped cautiously over to the nearly unconscious lost boy.

"Bu… but… Akane… I'm… real… sor-r-r…" With a deep exhalation, he slumped into unconsciousness.

Ranma's eyes went even wider. Akane? Where was she? If she was in sickbay, then that would mean Ryouga just went through… he began to count on his fingers, and found that he had to use both hands twice! Seventeen bulkheads!!!

_Note to self, stay away from Akane for at LEAST 24 hours!_

Ranma slowly reached up and tapped his com badge. "Uh… Saotome to Bones"

"Go ahead, Captain."

"Can you come to Baker quadrant section gamma, just outside Main Engineering? I have my helmsman's unconscious head looking at me from it's bulkhead mount."

There was a moment of silence before he could hear someone on the other side of the com badge screaming in the background. It didn't take a rocket scientist to recognize the voice of his fiancée, Akane.

"_THAT HONORLESS, PERVERTED, BLACK SLAB OF PORK CAN DIE FOR ALL I CARE!!! IF HE'S GONNA GET ANY HELP, IT AIN'T GONNA BE FROM ME, CAUSE I'LL DEEP FRY THE LITT- _I'll, uh… I'll be right up, Captain." Bones' voice finally came back over the line.

* * *

His quarters were dark around him, and the com line was open. The monitor glowed brightly before him. Two shapes were visible on it. The one began to speak. 

"So he specifically mentioned Section 31 involvement?" A female voice said.

"That's correct." Steven answered. "I don't know how he knew what he did, but he laid it all out like he'd been in one of our briefings!"

"The captain is obviously much more intelligent than we originally thought," a male voice said now. "You know our policies in these situations, Commander. See to it that this problem is dealt with!"

Steven nodded slowly. "Aye, Sir."

The transmission came to a close, and Steven thought about what he had to do for a moment. His face remained blank as he leaned forward and opened a new transmission. A moment passed, and he breathed deep, reflecting on the consequences of even saying something out of turn nowadays. The screen blipped again, and a man in a black uniform appeared on the screen.

"Go ahead, Sir?"

"Launch the Leviathan," Steven said quietly.

A second passed in silence.

"Target?"

"U.S.S. Wildstar. Ensure Agent extraction."

Another moment of silence.

"Understood."

Steven closed the transmission and leaned back in his chair hard.

Things had definitely taken a turn for the worst!

* * *

Another cliffhanger!!! AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAHAHAHAHAHAAA!!!! I'm evil sometimes... Anyways, you won't have to wait long! 

I'm wide open for the review thingy again!

MattSaotome


	10. Mission 2 Prologue

Alright! Here's the start of mission 2! There's some... uh... surprising character additions here, but just to put your mind at ease, I highly doubt any of them will be permanent. Well... one or two might be, but none beyond that. Think of them more as added material for this specific mission. That way, there'll be less objects thrown my way for over-complicating the storyline!! Heh, anyways, I also have to say that you'll be seeing a LOT more of the Akane/Ranma stuff in this mission compared to the last one. It hasn't shown up yet... but it WILL!! I have it all planned out!!

MattSaotome

* * *

Mission 2 Prologue

_Captain's Log, Stardate 60011.3_

_With most of our battle damage from our encounter with Cell repaired, the Wildstar has put in at Starbase 146 for the more major repairs, a cosmetic touch up, and most importantly, new additions to our crew. I've taken full advantage of the holodecks that the starbase has available. Sure, the ones on the Wildstar are just as good, but where else if not on a starbase can you use rare holodeck programs and not have to worry about anyone knowing who 'Ranma Saotome' is? I'm told to expect departure orders within the next two hours, and I find myself waiting with very poor levels of enthusiasm to see what my father has thrown at me now…_

Ranma held his knees, breathing hard from the workout. The holodeck around him had a mildly red tinge to it, the gravity setting at fifty times normal. Beside him, Goku was also breathing hard, though not in Super Saiyan form.

"That was… very well… done, captain!" Goku complimented him. "It's been… a while since I… got this kinda workout… in my normal form!!"

Ranma chuckled. "Yeah? …Well, it's… too bad I can't… go Super, eh?"

Goku laughed, allowing his breathing to sort itself out. He breathed quickly for a few seconds, then let it flood from his system with ease.

"Heh, yeah!" Goku grinned. "I think I'd almost like it if ya could!"

Ranma laughed at this as well, slumping down on his butt. "Well, fifty times gravity… ain't that fuckin' bad after all!"

It was at that moment that the com beeped.

"Wildstar to Captain Saotome?"

Ranma looked up at nothing. "Go ahead?"

"Captain, the new officers are arriving on board. Your presence is requested in the briefing room."

Ranma gave a single nod as he stood up. "I'm on my way, Mousse."

Goku called after Ranma, who was walking for the exit now. "Same time tomorrow, captain? Or are we shooting for the evening?"

Ranma slowed for the brief second it took him to think about it. "…Evening. I have a feeling I'll have my hands full during the day!"

Goku chuckled. "Alrighty then! I'll be with ya in about twenty minutes!"

Ranma nodded, throwing a quick wave at Goku as he continued to leave the holodeck and grabbing a white towel from the archway as the doors 'glen-glen-ed' shut behind him, flipping it over his shoulder.

* * *

The turbolift was, for some reason, oddly quiet. Ranma couldn't put a finger on it, but he knew that something was different. He'd have to ask Vegeta about it later. For now, new faces awaited him in the briefing room. He thought about who he might expect to see, realizing that it was a futile attempt considering the size of the Alpha Quadrant, but not really caring. For some reason, his brain showed him images of Kodatchi, Ukyo and Gosenkugi! He shuddered to the bone at the thought of having ALL his rivals and fiancé's on the same ship as him! No, it was better to wait and see! 

The turbolift slowed to a halt, and the doors parted to reveal a quiet bridge, manned only by Mousse for the moment. Ranma left the turbolift and headed straight for the observation lounge doors.

"Mousse?" He said quickly as he walked.

Mousse didn't even look up from his panel. "They're all in there waiting for you, sir."

Ranma gave a single nod as he passed through the doors and off the bridge. No sooner had he entered the briefing room when he came to a complete halt at the sight before him! One or two people looked up to see who had entered the room, but lost interest when they saw no uniform shirt on Ranma. Ranma quickly remembered that he had no shirt on, nor anything to identify him as an officer, save for the com badge slapped to the side of his jeans!

He looked around carefully, not sure what to think of what he saw. There was a woman with blonde hair in an engineer's uniform talking quickly with another woman with blonde hair in a command uniform. The engineering woman's hair was the strangest Ranma had ever seen, balling into two 'meatballs' on either side of her head before coming down in two VERY long, unbraided tails ending just above her knees.

The command woman's blonde hair was thick and beautiful, reaching down to her… Wow, her butt! Ranma thought for a moment that he might have been in danger of forming a crush… if she wasn't blonde!

Continuing to look around, Ranma's gaze settled next on two men that were arguing with each other, each wearing a black Wildcards uniform. One had some strange gadget around his eyes, and Ranma considered the possibility that the man was blind and the device helped him to see, like that engineer on the Enterprise he'd heard about. The man he was arguing with sported some strange facial hair, and his haircut alone looked like it was a pair of subdued wolf ears, adding to his lupine appearance.

From there, Ranma landed his gaze on the last group, talking quickly to each other with many a 'Wicked' and 'Radical' and other slang terms Ranma hadn't thought of using in… ever!

Their most obvious immediate trait was that all four of them were turtles! Man sized, standing, walking and talking TURTLES! They had headbands with eye holes cut in them wrapped around their heads, each one a different color. They didn't seem to have a single problem getting along, not like the two men in the Wildcard uniforms, and most of their talk seemed to center around pizza!

Ranma flicked his eyebrows, taking a deep breath before he dove in! The first group he headed for was the Turtles. He walked as casually as possible, looking like just another new recruit. As he came up to them, they stopped talking just long enough to see he was there and approaching them.

"Hey, Dude!" The one said. "Do you know if the joint on this ship makes good pizza or not?"

"With totally mouthwatering toppings!" The second said.

"And radical amounts of cheese!" The third added

"But No Anchovies!" The fourth finished.

Ranma couldn't help but grin at them. They were so high spirited that it might actually have been contagious! "Heh, sorry, guys! I'm not really too sure. I've never had a chance to check, myself!"

The four turtles quickly nodded to each other before looking back at him. "Ah, well. It's all cool, man!" The red bandana spoke up. "Hey, have you seen the captain anywhere, amigo?"

Ranma smiled again. "Can't say that I have!" He used the excuse in his brain that he had yet to look in the mirror today. "Keep your ears open, though. I'm sure he'll be here soon!"

The four of them nodded again, and Ranma gave blue bandana a quick slap on the shoulder as he walked away. The grin was still plastered to Ranma's face, and he silently wondered what department of the ship those crazy turtles would be working for. He found himself hoping that they took up a regular officer rotation, so he could see them at work on the bridge, but didn't dwell on it as he approached the two arguing men.

"Yeah?" The lupine dude was saying. "Well I don't see your name on it anywhere!"

"Hey, I paid good credits for that bike!" The headgear man replied. "I don't need you to fuck it up!"

"Did I Fuck It Up?" The wolfman leaned in closer, his voice raising.

"No, But You Could Have!" Headgear shot back. Then, they both felt eyes on them, and turned their heads to look at Ranma in synchronicity. Ranma gave a quick flash-smile at the two of them. They just stared back in silence for a moment. Finally, the eyepiece guy spoke.

"…Do you mind?" he said, being a good bit quieter than he just was.

Ranma gave a quick shrug. "I was just-"

Before Ranma got any further in his sentence, wolfie lifted his fist, and Ranma blinked as an eight inch long steel blade shot out from between his knuckles, playing the obvious role of the middle finger!

"This is a private conversation!" Lupine dude finished.

Ranma waiting a second or two before giving a slow nod. "Alright." He didn't feel like pressing the issue and having this man suspended for bad behavior when Ranma's persistence caused him to flip his lid! Besides, he was well past confident that he could have kicked wolf-boy's ass with both arms tied behind his back! Instead, he headed for the last two people in the lounge. He knew that, if anyone could make him feel better about that wolf dude, complete with ears and claws, it would be someone with a woman's touch!

As he walked towards them, the command officer looked up. Seeing Ranma on the approach, she immediately broke into a huge smile! Ranma gave a small one back as a calming feeling flooded his veins! No matter who the woman was (as long as they weren't a crazed bitch); their full smile and high cheekbones could always melt his worries and problems away! There was only one woman who seemed to be able to do it thousands of times better than any, but before he could think about that, he had reached the officers.

"Ladies," he said, standing in front of them. The one with the meatballs on her head stopped talking to the other to look at him.

"Excuse me were t-al-l-l-llo!! You're forgiven!" She quickly turned to the command woman, whispering with a little squeal. "He's a major Hunk!!!"

The command officer giggled, looking at Ranma with a smaller version of her killer smile! God, if only she wasn't blonde! "My friend thinks you're hot." She explained, her eyes looking at Ranma in a way that seemed to betray what she thought of his bare chest as well!

"Actually, so do I!" The officer admitted as she looked Ranma up and down. Ranma's eyes got a bit bigger. This one was certainly confident!

"You… really have no problems saying what's on your mind, do you?" Ranma observed.

The woman mock thought about it, then just looked back at Ranma. "Nope!" she grinned again.

"Oh, you should hear her!" Meatball head started going off. "When she gets talking to people and stuff, she just immediately tells them exactly what she thinks of their problem and how they should deal with it, and it's so weird because she's always like, bang on! This one time, I was really depressed from a bad breakup I had. I'm talking BAD! Like, nothing could stop the water works, but she helped me through it like a pro and-"

"Heh, that's because I AM a pro!" The command woman interrupted the other. Ranma sang silent praises in his mind, not sure how much more of the meatball head's babbling he could have taken. Then, he clicked on to what the command woman had said.

"You're a counselor?" Ranma asked, his brow furrowing with a bit of a smile.

The command woman beamed. "Damned straight!" She replied. Then, she motioned for Ranma to lean in to her as close as possible, and she did the same, until her mouth was right beside his ear. She obviously didn't want even her friend to hear what she had to say. A quick second later, he knew why!

"…And you're Captain Saotome." She whispered. Ranma pulled back with huge eyes. He pointed a single finger at her. "Betaziod?" He asked quickly, not sure if he could take having a counselor that could read his every thought!

The command woman shook her head, again smiling. "Nope! Just good at my job!" She giggled again. Ranma slowly lowered his finger. "…Right." As he began to walk away from them, he said back to her, "I think I'm gonna enjoy working with you, counselor!"

The sound of her youthful voice replied. "You know it!"

Ranma took another deep breath in and out, looking over the group one more time. Then a voice came over the com system.

"Goku to Captain Saotome."

Ranma winced as six heads shot to look at his com badge on his jeans, then back up at his eyes.

"…shit." Ranma muttered before tapping his badge to answer, the room now silent around him. "Go ahead, Number One."

"Sir, there's a transmission for you from Starfleet. Admiral Saotome on subspace."

"On my way." He tapped his badge off before looking around the group quickly. He gave a sudden shrug before quickly striding out the door. It closed behind him with a hiss. Silence remained in the room for a good two or three seconds longer before a unified "Aw, Fuck!" Rose from everyone but the counselor.

She just grinned like a school girl as she looked around everyone in the room. "I knew it was him the whole time!"

She nearly had to duck for cover at the number of 'Drop Dead' looks she received in reply!

"Ouch!" Serena said quietly. "Maybe not the best thing to admit…"

* * *

Ranma walked quickly into his ready room, followed by Goku. He was still shirtless, but didn't really care if his father saw him like that. If anything, Genma would be happy that Ranma was still working out. Yeah, right! He probably wouldn't say anything about it at all! 

"Stupid Oyaji!" Ranma muttered to himself. Goku chuckled as Ranma opened the transmission on his desk monitor.

"What's up, old man?" Ranma said quickly, hoping to look as distracted and busy as possible. For the most part, it seemed to work. Genma thought quickly about how to put his words before his eyes lit up and he looked at Ranma again.

"We've recieved a request for the Wildstar's presence at Risa. You and your CMO are to beam down to the planet and take charge of a medical emergency that appears to have risen up there. You'll take a shuttlecraft down to the planet to act as your medical base of operations, since we're not too sure what this medical emergency they're having is yet. As we find out more, we'll let you know.

Ranma nodded a bit. "Sounds like a walk in the park."

Genma nodded back. "Let's hope that's all it is. You'll get under way within the hour. And I don't want to hear any complaining about doing the mission with your CMO!!"

"Fine!" Ranma spat, slapping the control and closing the transmission. Goku laughed again.

"Have you two ever considered getting along?" He asked.

Ranma rolled his eyes. "Sure. Maybe that day will come… the same day I figure women out, stop becoming one myself, and turn into a Super Saiyan!"

Now it was Goku's turn to roll his eyes. "I see."

"Yeah…"

* * *

The crew was called back aboard, and not a half hour later, Ranma found himself sending out a familiar communication. 

"Open hailing frequencies." Ranma called out.

"Channel open." Shampoo answered. Ranma quickly glanced at Shampoo. Communications was her job now? He shrugged it off. Oh, well. There were obviously a few things he really did need to ask his engineer about!

"Wildstar to Dock master. Requesting permission to depart."

The com came to life. "Control Tower reading, Wildstar. Permission granted."

"Clear all moorings," Goku called out. Several clicks were heard, and a hiss of releasing pressure sounded through the hull.

"Aft thrusters." Ryouga said, his fingers pressing a few buttons.

Ranma blinked for a quick second, and for reasons he didn't even want to ask himself about, he replied to his helmsman.

"Thank you, Ryouga. One quarter impulse power."

Ryouga stopped and turned in his seat. Just as he opened his mouth to object and remind Ranma that Starfleet regulations specified thrusters ONLY while in space dock, he caught a glimpse of Goku sitting beside Ranma, shaking his head from side to side. Ryouga clamped his mouth shut, turned back to his console, and carried out the instructions.

"Aye, sir."

The Wildstar pointing right at the doors already, Ryouga had only to increase to the desired speed and let the ship sail its way out of dock. As the doors flew by again, Ranma stood and straightened his tunic.

"Lay in a course for Risa, Warp 9."

A few more beeps from the helm console had the starfield hurrying past them on all sides. Then, the ship settled into warp speed, the ride somehow even smoother than Ranma remembered it being. As he walked in the direction of his ready room, Ranma pondered about the fact that they had just performed a flawless launch with Ryouga at the helm! Just as he was about to count his blessings, Shampoo's voice piped up from her console.

"Captain say Risa, Stupid Boy! Not Cardassian Neutral Zone!"

Ranma gave a little groan as he turned to face the helm. "Aw, Ryouga…"

"Sorry," Ryouga didn't even look up from his controls. "Fixing…"

The ship yawed hard left, throwing everyone to the deck. As Ranma struggled and stood back up, he scowled heavily at Ryouga.

"When doing WARP 9," he emphasized, "It's always best to make GRADUAL course corrections!!"

Ryouga just snarled under his breath, barely remembering to grunt out a "Yes, sir," before Ranma turned and entered his ready room.

* * *

And so begins a new mission!!! Let me know, folks! 

MattSaotome


	11. M2 Chapter 1: The Unnamed Feeling

Hmm... I'm not sure, but I think I may be digging myself an early grave here... definitely death due to insanity!!

MattSaotome

* * *

Chapter 1

The Unnamed Feeling

Aside from the low level chirps and clicks that were all too common on a command center, the bridge around the man was quiet. No one was saying anything to anyone else, for reasons that he had long since figured out. It was considered unethical to talk casually amongst your fellow officers whilst on your way to commit mass murder!

He turned slowly in his chair, bringing the view of the bridge to his eyes a bit at a time. The useless science station before him was just his favorite place to sit, was all. It wasn't as if the station was ever really needed anyways. They were a ship of war. Period. The science station was just a formality.

With a deeply drawn sigh, he slowly rose from the seat, giving a light stretch to work a small kink out of his lower back. He surveyed the officers around him. Standing by the only turbolift entrance to the bridge were two security guards, dressed in uniforms that bore a closer resemblance to the mid-starfleet era than the present. At the center of the bridge, sitting in his chair, Captain Gil Grissom was pouring over a report PADD in silent stoicism. He could never tell exactly what the hell was going on in that man's mind. The helm officer, lieutenant Takahashi, was tapping a single finger on her console in some silent frustration. A couple of other officers were strewn out around the bridge, but none of them were standard crew. It was, after all, the night watch.

The Sheffield was a modified Sovereign class starship, rigged for war. Many upgrades had been done to the ship since it's last launch, and it had become a force to be reckoned with, for sure! This made him even more puzzled as to why the ship's original captain had agreed to take her out again as his ship, since Gil Grissom was hardly known as a great warrior captain. More like a man of strategy, filled with virtue and honor. So… maybe it DID make some small amount of sense to him, after all!

Then his gaze settled finally on the man seated at the tactical station, obviously doing nothing more than playing a glorified battle simulator game with only mild interest. As he stepped up to the man, his voice finally cracked words out, not having spoken for over five hours.

"Will?"

The man turned slowly in his chair. "Yeah?"

"Boss's on subspace for you."

The man's expression fell a little. "…Damn… A week's supply of Jack Daniels says they wanna know about Deep Space 3."

"Well, what are you gonna tell them?"

Will blew out a hard breath of air, turning back to his friend, John Robinson, with a look of passive uncertainty. "I don't know…"

"You don't know?" Captain Grissom's solid voice coasted over to them with it's usual impassive grace. "How about starting with 'I murdered a crew of 5700 when I blew the station up for taking passive scans of our launch'? That's a good place to start."

Will sneered down at the captain. He hated the man with his entire being, and he'd only been subjected to him for a little over a day. "Oh, that's so incredibly smart of you, you stoic jackass! I think you forget your place!"

Grissom's eyes shot up from the PADD, and his head slowly followed suit, staring Will right in the eyes.

"Oh, really? I don't think I do at all. As I recall, I work for Starfleet Intelligence, NOT Section 31. Just because I'm escorting you and your ship to the specified co-ordinates means nothing. Besides, as an old saying goes, the man that follows a fool… is doomed to foolishness himself!"

"Why you-" Will shot up from his seat, intent on jumping the ship's captain right then and there, but Robinson's arm came out in front of him. Will slowly turned to look at his friend, who just shook his head from side to side slowly.

With a snarl, Will threw himself in the other direction, heading for the turbolift. As he entered it, Grissom threw one final question his way.

"You're going to tell them that an escape pod managed to disappear into the nebula, as well, right?"

Will turned in the turbolift car, leaning against the back of it as his hands slid over the railings on either side of him. As the doors began to shut, he snarled once more with his reply.

"How about Go Fuck Yourself!"

* * *

Serena strolled her way into engineering like it was just another day at the office. Humming softly to herself, she singled out the first person that she noticed had chief pips on. She smiled and altered her path to intercept the woman. She bounced up to Dana with just a bit too much exuberance for the assistant chief's tastes and stuck her hand out. 

"Commander Vegeta?" She asked, the grin not leaving her face. It was almost understandable that the new arrival jumped nearly ten feet in the air when a voice came from just behind her that wasn't there a second earlier.

"Yes?" The REAL Vegeta responded to his name, flicking his eyes over to the blonde with a strange hairdo just before she shot into the air.

"AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

Dana's mouth hung open for a moment as the peppy newbie recovered from the shock.

"I… I think I've… just been insulted!" Dana cocked her head to the side for a second, the PADD she was about to hand Vegeta still half way held out in front of her. She chuckled, leaving her mouth hung open a little for emphasis. Vegeta replied by shooting her a mock grin that seemed to say 'Bite Me' in reply. Not a second later, the new arrival had calmed her beating heart and now faced the real Commander Vegeta.

"I'm… whew! I'm Lt. Commander Serena Tsukino. Your new field engineer!"

Dana fell to the deck and died of laughter.

Vegeta's eyes went wide. _Oh, God in Heaven, NO!!!_

All of Engineering came to a sudden halt, all eyes on Serena in either shock or silent hysteria, no one wanting to say a word out loud in case Vegeta killed them.

"…Rrrrrrreeealllyy….." Vegeta dragged. "…Well, Commander… uh…. uhum… your station is… that way."

Serena followed the direction of Vegeta's finger, looked at her post, then looked back at the Saiyan engineer with a huge smile. "Cool! So, how long have you been chief engineer?"

Vegeta, who was about to walk off after showing the giggling fart her post, halted in his tracks at the new question. He looked at her again and faked a smile. "A long time." He tried to leave again.

"Wow, you sure don't say much." Serena scowled.

"Noticed that, did you?" Vegeta replied, trying once more to walk away. _Breathe, Vegeta. Just breathe. It will do you no good to kill her, she's too stupid to know anything!!_

"Don't mind him," Dana was recovering now as she stood back up. "He's always a grouchy, bad tempered, complaining-"

"Commander…" Vegeta intoned.

"Testy, grumpy, crabby-" Dana continued, ignoring Vegeta.

"Mr. Jorgensen…" Vegeta started to look at her a bit darkly.

"Peevish, cantankerous, irritable-"

"Dana!!!" Vegeta snapped.

"Hell of a chief engineer that I've ever had the privilege of serving with!"

Vegeta's shoulders slumped with a heavy sigh. He still didn't know why he hadn't sent Dana to sickbay at LEAST a dozen times since the start of their trip. He'd killed men for less… but for some reason, he never could do it to her. Maybe her unique capability to handle his attitude had actually grown on him somewhat. Did that make him soft? He didn't think so. It simply meant that, through some happening that he didn't fully understand, his assistant chief engineer had gained his respect.

Even if she did insult him through half of his day. That was OK. He always gladly returned the favor!!

"Hard love…" Serena mused. "Message received."

"Yeah," Dana confirmed. Some nameless lieutenant that was walking past during Dana's revelation now joined the group.

"Are we allowed to do this now??!" He seemed surprised. Without even really waiting for an answer from Dana, the lieutenant turned to face Vegeta.

"You have the disposition of a camel before it spits!" He exclaimed.

Dana winced.

Serena ducked.

The lieutenant became one with the plasma relay wall.

Vegeta snarled at him as he lowered his open palm, a little residual energy crackling at the edges of his fingertips. He quickly surveyed the rest of the officers in the room.

"GET BACK TO WORK, YOU WORTHLESS PACK OF FOOLS!!!" He snarled. Not waiting to see what else queen ditz had to say to him, he turned quickly and left the general area, making full speed to… something he considered more important than meatball heads, tapping his com badge on the way.

"Medic to Engineering. General incident."

The lieutenant slumped down from the wall, quite unconscious.

* * *

The door chime to Ranma's ready room sounded, and Ranma looked up from the PADD he was perusing while sitting at his desk. 

"Come," he said.

The doors opened, and Vegeta immediately stormed into the room, the doors closing behind him. He leaned on Ranma's desk, looking his captain straight in the eye with… holy crap, he actually looked ready to plead with Ranma!

"We REALLY have to talk!!" Vegeta blurted out. He'd completely had it with his new field engineer. If he had to spend another moment around that meatball headed ditz, he was sure he'd kill himself! Ranma blinked a couple times. The door chime went off again.

"Uh, come?" Ranma looked at the door again. Lt. Scott and Lt. Logan both rushed in, squishing through the entrance at the same time, neither giving the other the courtesy of going first. Ranma shook his head for a second before they finally got through the door and approached his desk.

"Captain!" Scott sounded desperate.

"We have to talk!" So did Logan.

::Nifty Star Trek Door Chime Sound::

"Oh, for the love of… By All Means, Join The Party!" Ranma called to the door. It swung open to reveal Akane, who didn't even wait to get to his desk before blurting out exactly what Ranma expected to hear from her.

"Ranma, we have to talk!"

Ranma opened his mouth to begin to try and organize the crowd, but he was left with his mouth hanging open.

"Goku to Captain, we're receiving a distress call."

Ranma was on his feet, heading for the door. "On my way, number one!" He turned to face everyone just before going out the door. He quickly flashed looks around, then began to point fingers.

"Vegeta in one hour. Haircut and Eyepiece in two hours. Akane… ::sigh:: come with me."

Everyone blinked just short of dispersing, then there was some shoulder shrugging, followed by a little mumbling from Vegeta and the two Wildcards as they all filed out the door in a line. As the Wildcards members passed him, they muttered some kind of apologies about their actions in the briefing room. Ranma just brushed the incident off, and told them not to worry about it. As Vegeta came by… wait, what was he holding?!

Vegeta tipped a glass of water over Ranma's head, tossing it back into Ranma's ready room with a chuckle.

Ranma looked at Vegeta with annoyance now, water still dripping from her red hair.

"Commander…" she growled.

"Heh, if I have to put up with that meatball headed ditz for another hour," he said, still walking backwards away from the captain on his way to the turbolift, "then you can answer this distress call with your other half!"

With that, Vegeta turned and exited the bridge. Ranma shook her head with a sigh. Akane was giggling. Goku blinked. Ryouga was outright laughing. Shampoo and Mousse just felt a little sorry for him. Sighing one more time, Ranma walked over to her command chair, flicking a finger in Shampoo's direction.

"Let's hear it." She said. Shampoo pushed a couple of buttons silently, and the com system bipped to life.

"-Repeat: This is the sole surviving escape pod from Deep Space Three calling to any federation ship capable of saving my precious life. I, Tatewaki Kuno, The Blue Thunder of the Alpha Quadrant, am all that is left of the crew of the station Deep Space Three. I do not have to tell you that I am capable of paying a handsome sum to whosoever comes to my aide in this, my time of need! I implore you to respond as soon as-"

"Aw, crap…" Ranma muttered under her breath, not bothering to continue to listen as Kuno kept ranting and raving over the com system, sounding oh so sorry for his 'glorious self'. She tapped her com badge quickly. "Saotome to Vegeta."

There was a moment of silence before Vegeta's voice replied, sounding just a bit too cheerful. "Go ahead, Captain!"

_Bastard! Probably laughing his ass off in the engine room right now!!_ "Commander, I just thought I should let ya know that, due ta the identity of the person sendin' the distress call, I now have no choice but ta subject ya ta that 'Blonde Meatball-headed Ditz' for at least a week, if not more… for all the misery you're about ta cause me when I answer this call!"

There was a long, silent pause before Vegeta responded. "…fuck…"

"Commander?" Ranma grinned a little, but enough to be heard through her words.

"…Understood, Captain…" There was a click from Ranma's badge as Vegeta severed the connection. Ranma's grin became a little sheepish, and she turned to Goku quickly.

"…A little too harsh?" Ranma asked.

"Well," Goku thought for a second. "Hmm… That depends on what you meant when you said 'For all the misery you're about to cause me when I answer this call.'"

Akane chortled from the second officer's chair. "Just sit back and watch the fireworks, Commander!"

Ranma's grin faded immediately to a snarl before she waved a finger at Shampoo again. "Ops, Open a channel ta the escape pod."

Ranma gulped hard. She had always swore that the day she ever found Tatewaki Kuno in distress, she'd make sure whatever ship she was on would go sailing right past the gloating bastard at the slowest possible speed while she stuck her tongue out at him as they passed! Unfortunately, according to his communiqué, Deep Space 3 had been completely destroyed, and this meant she had to answer the call.

"Channel open, Ranma." Shampoo reported from her console.

"Thank you, Commander," Ranma's voice cracked slightly as she straightened her tunic a bit. Then, professionally folding her hands behind her back, she cleared her throat and spoke up.

"This is the Federation Starship U.S.S. Wildstar ta the person in distress. We have intercepted your transmission and are en route ta your position. We are receivin' your exact co-ordinates now."

A moment passed…

"…Ah, the heavens smile upon the Blue Thunder yet again! Wildstar, I shall graciously allow you to come to my rescue! But, I beseech you, wilst thou grant me visual communication? As you sound like a fair flower upon the dying grassy fields of the Alpha Quadrant, and it is the solemn duty of I, Tatewaki Kuno, to bestow upon you my chivalrous thanks by allowing you to date wi-"

"Grrrrrr….." Ranma's eyes were squeezed shut tightly, her fist clenched in front of her, shaking with the desire to jump out of the ship and kick his sorry little ass! Akane's hands were over her ears, and she looked at Ranma with wide eyes, shaking her head rapidly from side to side, mouthing the words 'No! Don't Do It!' But Ranma knew she had no choice, or the gloating fool would never allow himself to be rescued. Instead, she quickly threw her arm in shampoo's direction, a single finger pointing at her, but still shaking as she squeezed the words out painfully. "Open… visual… communications… commander…"

Shampoo blinked, an expression of pity for Ranma on her face as she complied. Akane jumped behind the second officer's chair to hide, an action that caused Commander Goku to raise his left eyebrow. There were a couple of beeps, followed by the sweep of abrupt rapid clicks to signify to Ranma that the viewscreen had just been activated. She kept her eyes very firmly shut, her fist still shaking in front of her. She even winced when a gasp of joy came from the audio speakers.

"Ah!! 'Tis none other than my pigtailed goddess come sailing to my rescue!! Oh, how fate plays with our feelings, my love, for I have longed these past months to see your smiling face! Come, beauteously approach my wayward soul, and let the transporter beam that tugs me gracefully towards you be a symbol of the pull that has existed between us from all the way across this lonely Federation Space! For 'tis my soul that yearns for thee, to fill the empty space that exists within you when I, Tatewaki Kuno, The Blue Thunder of the Alpha Quadrant am abse-"

Goku quickly made a slicing motion across his neck in Shampoo's direction, his face extremely blue. The viewscreen blipped to blankness once more, and Mousse and Ryouga both were making gagging noises at their posts. As Goku got out of his chair to approach his shrinking captain's form, Ranma gradually let one eye drift open as she realized the sound of Kuno's voice was gone. Then, she felt Goku's hand on her shoulder.

"I think giving Commander Vegeta a week was way too kind of you, Captain!"

Akane giggled as she took her seat again, a look of long pity on her face for Ranma.

Ranma sighed hard, feeling her body ease as it would after a hard battle. She let her arm that had supported her clenched fist drop back to her side as her hand relaxed and drifted slowly open, revealing four perfect nail-shaped cuts in her palm that were slowly trickling blood. Akane saw this, and went to get the dermal regenerator from the med-kit.

"Mousse," Ranma called out.

"Ma'am?" Mousse replied without thinking, then quickly covered his mouth as he realized what he'd just called Ranma.

"Relax," Ranma sighed, slowly meandering back to her chair. "I'm startin' ta get used ta that, anyways. Just… just make sure Kuno doesn't hack inta our communications grid in an attempt ta contact me. God only knows he'll at LEAST try THAT."

Mousse nodded after dropping his hand back to his side in relief. "Aye, captain."

"Shampoo, do NOT under ANY circumstances answer Kuno again 'til we reach him. Personally, at this point, I don't even care if he gets blown away before we get there!"

"Shampoo do." She replied.

"Ryouga…" Ranma took in a deep breath, not liking what her next order was going to be.

"Uh… yeah?" Ryouga asked, now facing the silent Ranma. He saw her eyes clenched shut again, and a moment passed before she opened them and looked right at him.

"I hereby grant ya permission ta go to the aide of the white noise of the alpha quadrant, the incredible windbag, Tatewaki 'Somebody Shoot Me' Kuno!" Ranma's head danced from side to side as she said 'Somebody Shoot Me', a sarcastic grin flashing on her face just before saying his last name. Ryouga blinked twice at her before bursting into horrendous laughter, which the entire bridge crew did. Even Akane, as she took Ranma's injured hand and began to work it with the dermal regenerator, was turning blue in the face as she tried to hold back the chuckles so as not to screw up in mending Ranma's hand.

Ranma just huffed her head down onto her other hand, letting Akane go to work.

"Well… ::grumble, mumble:: At least we'll be at Risa soon. Then Commander Goku can take the Wildstar and handle this stupid incident, and we won't have ta put up with the 'Blue Blunder!"

Akane's smile grew a little at the idea of being able to evade Kuno almost completely. "Yeah…" she breathed. "Thank God for minor miracles!"

Ranma flinched suddenly as a quick pain shot up his arm from his hand that Akane was working on.

"Ow! Hey, watch it, Tomboy! I know it's hard for ya with that brute strength, and all, but do ya hafta be so clumsy with that thing::URK!:: I mean… Uhhh… Aww, shi-i-i-t…"

Consciousness quickly left Ranma at the hand of Akane's mallet.

* * *

"Sheffield, this is Will. Subspace Umbilicals are severed." 

"Understood. You are now under your own power."

"Cloak and take position 20,000Km off our port. Stand by to receive any further instructions."

"Acknowledged."

The Sheffield's bridge disappeared off the viewscreen before him. With a growl to show that he most definitely would NOT miss the stuck up bastard of a captain, Will Beahm turned and strode back to his command chair, swiftly taking his seat.

"Tactical, power up independent cloaking systems."

"Aye, Captain!" came the swift reply.

"Ops, yellow alert. Sound General Quarters, all hands stand-by battle stations."

The Ops officer quickly activated inter-ship. "YELLOW ALERT! ALL HANDS TO STAND-BY BATTLE STATIONS! GENERAL QUARTERS! GENERAL QUARTERS!"

"Helm!" Will barked, getting into it as the white lights of the bridge faded out to be replaced by the hard-blue battle lights, bathing every surface with an ethereal glow. "Set course to intercept target! Warp 14!"

"AYE!" The helm officer returned. On the viewscreen, the starfield was flung quickly to the left, then leveled as it began to shoot past them, the little points of light quickly turning to long streams as the ship broke the light speed barrier and continued to accelerate. Will tangled his fingers together in front of his face, his elbows firmly planted on the arms of his command chair as he leaned forward a little, a slight grin gracing his expression.

"ETA to target?"

"One hour, sir!" Tactical replied.

"COS, Richter Red!" Will instructed the man standing beside his chair.

"RICHTER RED!!" His first officer's strong voice called out. The blue glow on the bridge quickly faded to red, and an alarm klaxon double-sounded loudly. Out in space, the visible section of the Leviathan's saucer shimmered gracefully out to meld with the space flying around it as the cloaking device surged to life.

Will leaned back in his chair. "The hunter has been released," he spoke quietly to himself. The chase was on, and one oblivious starship was about to get the shock of its life!

* * *

BWAHAHAHAHAAHHH!!!! Man, the Wildstar is in for it now!! Not that it's any big surprise, but I guess Ranma managed to piss off the wrong people yet AGAIN! 

More insanity and crazy Section 31 stuff coming up, but MOST importantly... Hehehehh...

...Risa...

::Evil Grin::

MattSaotome


	12. M2 Chapter 2: Gaucheness

WWWEEEEEEE!!!!! Here I go again!! Things definitely appear to be progressing much more... Hmm... Ranma-like in this one!

MattSaotome

* * *

Chapter 2

Gaucheness

The desk before him was illuminated only by a small arm-lamp that glowed over the blueprints he was studying. Several sheets of paper scattered over the desk bore the obvious sketches of a starship layout, detailed down to the control circuit.

Steven reached for his mug of coffee and took a large gulp. Letting out a satisfied 'Ahh', he lifted one of the pieces of paper and began to survey it again.

_So similar…_ he thought to himself. There was no mistaking where the ship in the blueprints had found its origins. For Steven, it was common knowledge. Anyone high in the ranks of Section 31 would be able to tell at only a glance. The blueprints he surveyed detailed every structural and engineering detail of the U.S.S. Wildstar.

_And to think… we had no idea when we had starfleet build her that we'd be blowing her up shortly afterwards. Doesn't change the fact that it's still nice to look at. Damned similar…_

But, of course, it was the similarities that had Steven worried. Since the Wildstar had been constructed using only slightly modified blueprints of… but that was why he had to find it. A weakness to exploit. Some way to slow the Wildstar down, so the Leviathan could make the kill.

Was he worried that he was still on board? Heh, not really. Extraction under fire had been done FAR too often by his people for him to worry. Of course, it helped that Phillip and Matt had been dropped off at the starbase while they were docked. No sense in risking THREE people's skins. Especially not operatives so closely knit to the security of Section 31.

He took another swig of his coffee, and picked up a different sheet of paper.

_Gotta be something… Gotta be somewhere…_ It was a real pity, too. For what it was worth, he liked Captain Saotome. He seemed to be headstrong enough for the captaincy, which was what made him even more surprised to learn that he hadn't even served a tour as a COMMANDER on any ship, much less had any command experience.

Hmm… then there was the CMO, Akane Tendo. Admiral Tendo wouldn't be too happy with him if he discovered that Section 31 had destroyed the Wildstar with his little girl on board. He chuckled a bit at the thought. That man could be so over-protective. Too bad that he had every right to be in this case. He'd make a note of contacting the Admiral shortly. Thank technological advancements that allowed long-range holo-communications possible. Mind you, all the over-worried moron saw was a black silhouette, anyways!

_THERE IT IS!!!_ Steven quickly brought the schematic that he was looking at closer to his face to make sure he wasn't seeing things. Slowly, a little bit of a grin appeared, and he chuckled once more. _Man, if the boss knew that this weakness existed, the Leviathan would've never been launched! Of course they'd be stupid enough to repeat the mistake here…_

He dropped the blueprint back on the desk and, downing the rest of his coffee, dashed out of his quarters.

It was time to pay a visit to Auxiliary Control!

* * *

Sickbay loomed around him like a large cave, both dangerously inviting, and easily confusing. At least, for HIM it was. Ryouga glanced around carefully from his position at the door. 

_Let's see… nurses, male doctor, other unmentionable medical staff…_ He let the flowers in his hand sag down a bit. She wasn't here. Figured. He'd come to apologize, and she was nowhere in sight. He sighed and turned to face a doorway.

_Guess I'll just go, then._ He began to walk sulkily to the door.

"I wouldn't go in there, if I were you." McCoy's voice floated over to him. "Unless you're a corpse that doesn't mind being dissected for all he's worth by the laser cutters and micro-tractors, that is."

Ryouga stopped short, glaring at the door in front of him with a new sense of fear.

"Th-thanks, Bones." He breathed, turning to face another doorway.

"Of course, we could always change his current physical status!" a bitter female voice shot in his direction. Ryouga winced, turned slowly, and did his best to put on a smile at the seething woman that was stealthily approaching his position.

"Uh… Hi, Akane… Umm… can we talk?"

The scowl on Akane's face deepened. She'd come out of her office just in time to see the directionally challenged dimwit trying to walk to his certain doom. While deep inside, a part of her thought that it would have been kinda funny, her conscience was wrestling with her furiously. She'd been muttering something about shoving him in there herself when she walked over to him, but now seemed satisfied that he'd make a good wall ornament. She came to a halt not a foot away from him, her hot breath tickling at the short stubble growing on his chin.

"So talk, pig-boy." She didn't even pay attention to the flowers in his hand. He stuttered and muttered for a few seconds before suddenly shoving the flowers in her face.

"Akane I'm REALLY sorry that I never told you but I didn't get much of a chance to before you made me your pet and then it just felt SO good to have someone caring for me again even if it wasn't really me well it was but just not in that sense but YOU didn't know that so I wentandIgotyoutheseflowerstosayI'msorry!"

Akane's glare didn't shift one bit. Looking Ryouga straight in the eyes, she reached to the counter beside him and grabbed a small vial. Opening it, she dumped the contents into the flowers, which immediately withered and died.

Ryouga went white, just as Akane grabbed him by the collar and threw him into her office all the way across sickbay.

"WAAAAUUGGHGHHH!!!!!!" Ryouga hit the far wall and slumped to the ground.

"If anyone needs me, I'll be in my office!" Akane growled through gritted teeth.

Everyone in sickbay had learned VERY quickly over the last couple of days not to mess with her when she was in that state. As such, there were several audible gulps that went around the room. No one seemed able to tear their eyes off her as she practically glowed with anger.

McCoy looked around the room at the staff, and cleared his throat quickly.

"Alright, everyone. Back to work." He sighed. "Oh, Nurses, could you prepare the emergency room, just in case? Thank you."

Akane entered her office and pushed the panel button to close and lock her doors. Once inside, she walked right up to Ryouga, who had slumped down the wall upside down. She stood inches from the top of his head and knelt down to him with a low, throaty growl.

"So you wanna apologize, huh?" She mono-toned. Ryouga barely had enough of his scared wits left to nod dumbly. "You really think an apology can make up for it?!"

Ryouga's mind went on automatic now. "It's all Ranma's fault!!"

"Don't you DARE blame this on HIM!" Akane hollered. "From my perspective, YOU'RE the one I should have been calling a pervert all this time! Imagine… Ranma had been trying to tell me for so long about you and your curse! I don't know what you said to him to keep his mouth shut about it, but you'd better SPILL IT!!"

Ryouga began to babble uselessly, realizing just how pissed off Akane was with him. Before he could form coherent words, however, the monitor on Akane's desk started talking!

"It's because his being cursed is MY fault, Akane."

Ryouga nearly fainted. Akane whipped her head back towards the monitor.

"What?" Ranma's face looked oddly humored. "Didja forget that you were talkin' ta me before you so rudely up and left the office?"

Akane blinked a couple of times. She HAD forgotten. Then she registered what Ranma was saying, and slowly stood up to walk back to her desk.

"What do you mean, it's your fault?" She asked, her tone now calm and curious.

Ranma sighed and held his forehead between two fingers before looking back up at Akane as she sat down.

"When Pops and I went to Jusenkyo, Ryouga followed me there to try and get that fight over with. He was standin' on an overhang above the springs when Pops came rushing out of the bushes behind him, being chased by me. We'd already fallen in, so I was too pissed off ta notice when I accidentally kicked Ryouga over the edge and into the springs."

Akane's eyes went wide, and she turned to look at Ryouga's near unconscious form. _Poor Ryouga…_ her mind instantly said. She shook her head just as quickly, allowing the anger to take back over.

"Well, accidental curse or not," she held up a fist, still staring at the lost boy. "That doesn't mean he can use it to get in cheap feels, or to see me naked and sleep in my bed! No wonder he's so MAD at you all the time, Ranma! He knows EXACTLY how I feel about y-"

Her fist quickly opened, and she covered her mouth with both hands, eyes wide. On the screen, however, something completely different was going on.

"So he knows you think I'm a pervert and a jerk. So what?! It's no secret what you think of me, Akane."

Her hands fell, and a snarl covered her face now. "You IDIOT! That's not what I meant!"

"C'mon, Akane. You shouldn't lie like that. God only knows it's impossible for you ta pull off when you can't even make a good poker face, ya stupid tomboy!"

"RANMA NO BAKA!!!"

"Look, just be ready to leave for Risa as soon as we debrief Kuno, Alright?"

"FINE!!!"

She slammed her hand down on the terminal, and Ranma's image disappeared. She turned in her chair and stood again, walking back over to Ryouga to stand above him.

"Now where were we?" She began to crack her knuckles.

From outside the sickbay office, the staff cringed at the sound of Ryouga's cries of pain.

* * *

Ranma rubbed his temples furiously at the now blank monitor. What the hell was he thinking? Things could have finally started looking up for him and Akane, but as usual, he just stuck his foot in his mouth and regretted it later. 

_Stupid, stupid, stupid, STUPID_ "Stupid!!" He chastised himself. The door buzzer went off, and Ranma moaned in anticipation of who was on the other side of it.

"Come!" He exclaimed angrily.

The doors swept open, and Goku walked in with Kuno in tow. As the doors closed behind them, and Goku stood to the side, Ranma watched Kuno's face fall from a giddy lovesick expression to one of outright rage.

"Saotome!" He spat. "What have you done with my love, the pig-tailed girl?! SHE is captain of this vessel!"

Beside him, Goku stifled a chuckle. "Yes, SHE is." He finally choked out.

Kuno glared at the first officer. "But Saotome is wearing the captain's uniform!"

"That's cause I'm the captain, ya hopeless moron!" Ranma spat.

Kuno glared at Goku, who just shrugged. "Ranma IS the captain."

"But you just said that… RRRRGGHH!!! Saotome, you wretch! You've hidden her away again to satisfy your baser lusts and fulfill your evil will! Where have you put her?! I shall free my love so she may take her rightful place as Captain of this vessel, and stand by my side once more!!"

Goku had been slowly losing control all the while. At Kuno's last words, he couldn't hold back a second more, and hung over himself as he bust a gut with fits of horrendous laughter. Ranma closed his eyes with a deep sigh, and shook his head from side to side.

"If ya would, Number One?" he said quietly. He didn't like it, but trying to wring the information out of Kuno in his current state would be a moot point. As Goku recovered and headed for the replicator, Ranma opened his eyes and looked up.

"Computer, erect a level ten force field 'round the captain's desk in the ready room. Set so only me or the first officer can lower it."

The computer beeped a few times, and a forcefield buzzed to life around the desk just as Goku reached his captain's side with a glass of water.

"So ya want the pig-tailed girl, Kuno?"

Kuno nodded his head furiously, still glaring pins and nails at Ranma.

"Fine." Ranma up-ended the glass over his head and transformed. Kuno's expression changed instantly to one of joy and victory.

"Ah, my pig-tailed goddess! The lecherous Saotome has released you at last! Come, my love. Let me take you in my arms!" Kuno bolted forward, just to get the shock of his life and bounce backwards to fall on the couch when he impacted the forcefield.

Goku bust another gut helplessly, and Ranma let out a bit of a laugh in her now musical tone.

"Alright, Kuno." She said, shooting a look at his stunned form on the couch. "Spill. Why were ya floatin' around in an escape pod, and sayin' your station was blown up? What's goin' on?"

Kuno gave his head a good shake, recovered, and leaned forward on the couch, all to eager to speak now.

"I see that the vile sorcerer Saotome has enlisted methods of making sure we share no physical contact. Fear not, my beauty! Soon, I shall find a way to overcome him."

"Bla bla bla." Ranma sighed. She glared daggers at him now. "Just tell me what happened to your stupid station, already!"

Kuno sighed some lovesick sound, and then slowly nodded his head. "Very well. Since I know that YOU will have the heart to do something about this injustice. Less than six hours ago, my station was studying a near-by nebula. We took some passive scans of a launch that took place inside. It appeared to be a federation starship, but the likes of which I have ne'er laid eyes on before. Hmm… actually, come to think of it, it did look a good amount similar to your ship! But no matter!"

Goku went all business-like now. "So this ship that you saw launched. It attacked you?"

Kuno nodded. "We had no time to send a distress call. The ship emerged from the nebula at speeds I did not think technologically possible and immediately began its assault. I had barely enough time to call for transport to an escape pod and eject before the station was blown apart. I watched on in horror as the ship began to swoop around and target the station's primary reactor core, which had somehow miraculously survived the initial explosion. They destroyed it, and the resulting shockwave obliterated every pod launched from the station! I, Tatewaki Kuno, the blue thunder of the Alpha quadrant, was skilled enough to escape the blast and hide in the nebula until it was safe."

Ranma pondered on this in her mind, and quickly came to another conclusion.

"So ya were on the other side of the ship when it blew up the reactor, sparin' ya from the shockwave. Is that right?"

Kuno's face fell ashen at the insinuation, but he quickly turned away a little and nodded once.

"Kuno," Ranma leaned forward. "This is really important. Did ya get ANY of the scan data from the station 'fore it went sky high?"

Kuno nodded furiously again, quickly producing a tricorder. "Of course, my goddess in pig-tails! I have the record of our last few scans stored here!"

Ranma's face visibly brightened. "Awesome!"

Kuno placed the tricorder down on the end table beside the couch.

"Now if the foul sorcerer would but release his barrier around you, perhaps I could show you the data myself!"

Goku giggled like a moron for a few seconds. Ranma's eyes flashed dangerously at Kuno, and a look of smug self-absorption graced her features.

"I got a better idea, 'Kuno-baby'!" She coined Nabiki's nickname for him. "Not that you've really done anythin' ta deserve this… yet… but hey! Computer, beam Kuno to the brig, and lower the forcefield surrounding this desk."

The computer beeped a few more times, and the forcefield vanished as a transporter beam snagged Kuno. His expression barely had time to change into shock before he vanished.

"Pig-tai-"

Goku let loose with the rest of his gut, going quite red as Ranma giggled, shook her head and stood up.

"He's such an idiot!" she breathed, stepping over to the tricorder and collecting it. She turned with it in hand to face Goku.

"Hey, calm down, Goku! Gees. I don't wanna hafta cart your ass ta sickbay if ya lose consciousness, ya know!"

"I'm s… I'm s… sorry, ca-ca… Ranma! He's just… AHAHAHAHAHAHAAAH!!!!"

Ranma gained a smug grin. "Yeah, tell me about it! But right now, I really need ya ta straighten up, 'kay?"

Goku huffed a few more times, took in some fast breaths, and finally sighed his laughing fit away. He cleared his throat a bit, and stood straight again.

"Heh heh… sorry, Ranma. God, I never knew he was so dense!"

"You don't know the half of it!" Ranma snorted. "Anyways, listen. Me'n the doc hafta head out right away here. Take Kuno and this data back to the nearest starbase and get on it. Okay?"

Goku nodded, going serious again. "Not a problem, Captain. You don't want to cancel the Risa mission then?"

Ranma shook her head quickly. "No. There're lives in danger there. We gotta carry out the Risa mission! But a triage center in a runabout is just as easy ta do. You take command, and get ta the bottom of this mess Kuno got himself in."

"One thing did strike me as odd during the debriefing, captain."

Ranma blinked a few times, a confused look passing quickly across her face. "Something stood out weirder than the rest of that crap?!"

Goku nodded. "He said that the ship that was lunched looked a good bit like the Wildstar. Remember?"

Ranma nodded back. "Oh… yeah, that's right. Hey, ya don't suppose they built us a sister ship, do ya?"

Goku frowned. "If that's the case, why'd it destroy Deep Space Three?"

Ranma thought for a moment, then quickly shook her head. With a bit of a grin, she tossed the tricorder underhand to Goku and turned to leave.

"That's YOUR problem now, Cap! Catcha later!"

A grin slowly spread over Goku as he watched Ranma leave the ready room.

_Cap!_ He thought.

* * *

"Captain, we've got a system's failure!" The voice of his female ops officer came quickly to him at his command chair. Will swore under his breath. 

"What is it?" he asked.

"Junction C has failed. There's a malfunction in the bio-neural circuitry… Claok is failing!!"

"WHAT!??" Will was on his feet in an instant, heading over to her console. He stared at the readouts in confusion.

"What the hell?"

Out in space, the leviathan shimmered back into visual reality, the usually beautiful cloaking effect shimmering hard in its efforts to be maintained.

"Fuck!" The lieutenant spat. "We're visible!"

Will quickly crossed the bridge to the tactical station.

"Monitor the Wildstar. If they show any signs of detecting us, let me know!"

"Aye sir." The tactical officer replied.

"And get that Damned cloak working!!"

* * *

Alright!! Sorry about the lack of updating there, folks! I just had ta rewrite a bunch of my plot line to make certain... allowances in the future! 

Well, lemme know what ha think!

MattSaotome


	13. M2 Chapter 3: Mercury Rising

Wow, I sure left this one hanging for a while!! Guess I need to get back at it! Anyways, here's the next installment of 'Wildstar'! Time for things to get a bit more... complicated!!

MattSaotome

* * *

Chapter 3

Mercury Rising

The runabout flew gracefully at warp towards its destination. Inside, Ranma was at the controls, trying very hard to keep a straight face as he recalled his debriefing session with Kuno only a few short hours before. Behind him, Akane heard a little chuckle escape his throat, and she turned to face him. His good mood was rapidly becoming contagious, and she found a small smile growing on her face.

"What?" she giggled.

"Oh, not much." Ranma replied. "I've just been achin' ta throw Kuno in the brig for a really long time!"

A wide grin settled over Akane's expression as she took the co-pilot seat and swiveled around in it once.

"I know exactly what you mean!" Then a thoughtful look came over her expression, and she turned to Ranma. "So what happened to him, anyways? I mean, after he went to the brig."

Ranma shrugged. "Oh, he's still in there."

"What?!" Akane's face displayed a look of goofy shock.

"Yeah, I left Goku with instructions ta keep him locked up 'till they reach a starbase or somethin'."

"Ranma!" She smacked his arm playfully.

""Ow! Hey, what'd I do?" Ranma laughed back.

* * *

"Mousse?" 

"The runabout has entered warp, sir." Mousse responded to Goku's unspoken question. A smile that gave away his inner joy was plastered on his face. Ranma and Akane were taking off in the runabout together. That meant that Ranma wasn't here for Shampoo to pine over, nor was Akane around for her to threaten. As far as he was concerned, things couldn't be better right at that moment.

"Then it's time we got to work." Goku rose from the command chair. "Shampoo, Ryouga, Mousse, you're with me. Goku to Vegeta, report to the briefing room."

"On my way, Kakarot." Came the growled reply.

* * *

"Risa ground Control, this is the runabout Pacific. Requesting permission to land." Akane's musical voice made Ranma close his eyes for a brief instant. He loved it when she talked. If she wasn't upset or shouting about something, her voice had the most incredible effect on his insides. 

"Runabout Pacific, you are cleared for landing at port nine. Welcome to Risa."

"Copy that."

"Beginning descent." Ranma informed her.

"So what do you think we'll find once we're there?"

Ranma shrugged again. "Feh. How should I know? I still don't see the wisdom in my bein' on this stupid run when one o' your staff woulda been a better pick."

Akane scowled. "What, am I not good enough for you now? Is that it?!"

Ranma went defensive. "No! That's not what I meant, Akane! Geez, let me explain things 'fore ya get all riled up!"

"I'm not getting 'riled up'!" Akane snapped back.

"Calm down, tomboy!"

Akane went rigid. "I AM CALM!!!"

Ranma became angry. "LIKE HELL YA ARE, YA MACHO CHICK!!!"

"Ranma, you JERK!!!" Akane's mallet came down on his head. Bad timing took the unfortunate opportunity presented it, and at the second right before Akane's mallet made contact, the runabout bucked hard on atmospheric entrance. The extra momentum went straight through Akane's arms, and the end result was a very loud 'crack'. Her mallet split down the middle over Ranma head, dissolving back into its dimensional pocket. Ranma collapsed on the console, completely unconscious, his slumped form locking up some of the controls.

"Oh, shit! Ranma! Ranma?!" Akane began to panic as a few alarms started whining in the cockpit. Outside the runabout, the atmosphere flared red hot. On the trajectory display beside her, she could see the new path the runabout was taking; a nose dive right into the planet! She began to shake Ranma furiously.

"Dammit, Ranma! Wake up!! RANMA!!!!"

* * *

"Is the cloak back on-line yet?" Will's impatience was growing steadily. 

"just a few more minutes, sir," the lieutenant answered. "The damage to the control junction was a lot more extensive than we previously thought. It must have been on the verge of frying for weeks now."

Will nodded. "Very well. Is there any indication whether or not the Wildstar has detected us yet?"

His tactical officer looked down at the console in front of him, then back at Will, shaking his head. "Doesn't look like it, sir."

Will took in a deep breath and let it back out with a huff. Hold off, or start now? He tossed the question around in his head for a moment in silence, and then looked back over at the lieutenant at the ops station.

"Begin jamming their communications."

* * *

Everyone took their seats around the observation table, while Goku stood at the front by the display screen. 

"We've analyzed the data on Kuno's tricorder." Goku began. "As he stated, he was able to download the last few seconds of the stations sensor logs. I'm afraid that what I have to show you is more than a little unsettling."

Vegeta grumbled in his seat. "Well, get on with it, then."

Goku pushed a few buttons on the control panel, and the screen came to life. Static took the display every now and then, a definite sign that something was attempting to jam the stations sensors. The starfield on the screen had a medium sized nebula at the center. A ship swept into view.

"Oh, sweet mother of God…" Ryouga breathed. On the screen before them was a near spitting image of the Wildstar. The only visible differences were that the nacelles were laying back to back with each other on what appeared to be two horizontal mounts, and the neck to the saucer section was roughly half the height of their ship's.

"It's… us." Mousse babbled.

"No it is not us, you blind buffoon!" Vegeta snapped. "There are several differences. I thought you wore glasses to help you see!"

Mousse growled at the comment, but sat back in his chair anyways and continued to watch the screen. The ship had some obvious markings that seemed to label it as Starfleet in origin, but with some strange deviances. It swooped in on the station and began to fire. Several torpedoes burst from launchers all over the ships surface.

"Computer, freeze image." Goku instructed. The image came to a halt.

"Triphasic torpedoes." Vegeta stated calmly. "Interesting."

"The ship appears to be federation," Goku said. "I think. The triphasic torpedoes mean that it most likely has similar armaments to us. I won't deny that this ship looks quite a bit like ours."

"A sister ship, perhaps?" Ryouga asked, voicing an idea Ranma had already presented to the first officer.

Goku shook his head. "It's not likely. Too many subtle differences. It is, however, likely that one of our two ships was built based on the designs of the other."

Mousse suddenly shot forward in his seat. "What the hell?! Computer, enhance grid 4C!"

Everyone looked back at the monitor again as it complied with Mousse's command. A section of the ships hull was grabbed by the computer and zoomed in to near ten times magnification. After a couple of cleaning sweeps, the restored image shone out at them. Plastered against the side of the ship was the fleet logo and its designation. Instead of the all-too familiar starfleet com badge design leading to the fleet initials, there was a very recognizable planet image with a dagger through it.

"I.S.S Leviathan?!??" Everyone in the room exclaimed. It was at that moment that the com system came to life.

"Bridge to Commander Goku."

Goku stood straight and leaned his head to the side a little. "Go ahead."

"Commander, I've lost track of the runabout. Also lost contact with Starfleet command, sir. There appears to be some jamming in effect."

Goku's look became serious, and he shot glances to everyone around the room. They all had the exact same thoughts going through their minds. They were being hunted.

"Bridge, set course for Deep Space Three. Maximum warp!" Goku stressed the 'maximum warp', intent deep down on outrunning whatever it was that was chasing them. He sighed heavily and looked around at the crew again.

"I think it's a safe bet that we're being followed," he explained. "We need to get to Deep Space Three and try to piece together exactly what the hell is going on. If this ship was launched from inside that nebula, as Kuno said, then our answers may be there. Any questions?"

Ryouga cleared his throat, looking a little sheepishly at Goku. "What, uh, do we do if they catch us first?"

Goku looked immediately towards Vegeta, making eye contact for a heartbeat. An evil grin came across Vegeta's expression, and he swiveled in his chair to face Ryouga as he leaned over the table and folded his hands together.

"Then we beat our answers out of them, instead!"

* * *

"Ugh, my head…" Ranma moaned as he came to, sitting up with more than a little difficulty. It only took him a second to realize that this was because an unconscious Akane was sprawled over his back. A hissing noise gradually came to his ears, as well as the sounding of the runabout's alarm klaxon blaring. He quickly regained his senses and looked around the destroyed craft. 

The medical supplies were still neatly bundled up in their crates, which had, however, been thrown around like dice. Since they weren't dead or otherwise poisoned yet, Ranma reasoned that all the supplies had to still be somewhat intact. He looked over at the warp relays and groaned. Black smoke spewed from the relay cover, signifying that the circuitry was fried beyond repair. The flashing on and off of the console controls in front of him told him there was computer core damage, and one quick look down at the impulse control battleship revealed that it was a mangled hulk of metal and destroyed circuit panels. Ranma snorted at his last discovery.

"Feh! Can't even lift off, much less limp back to the Wildstar!" He looked once more at Akane's form that was still sprawled across his back somewhat, his previous head motions notwithstanding. "Hey, Akane. Y'ok?"

"…Mmmmmnnn…" came the moaned reply.

"Akane, ya gotta get off my back."

"Bu-but Ran…ma, I di-didn't… say… anything…"

Ranma groaned again. "Not THAT kinda 'off my back', 'Kane! I mean you're lying ON my back and I wanna stand up!"

Akane quickly became more coherent, and gradually slipped herself into a standing, albeit wobbly, position.

"Oh, God!" she moaned again. "I feel like I was just sucked through a bad transporter trip!"

Akane took a second to look around the destroyed runabout. Her expression quickly became one of massive relief.

"Oh, thank GOD! It worked!"

Ranma raised an eyebrow at her. "What worked, tomboy?"

"After I… uh… oh shit…"

Something dawned over Ranma's expression as he remembered why he was unconscious in the first place. He shot a look over to Akane, one that seemed to scream at her for hitting her captain, while at the same time managing to look emotionally hurt about it. "…'Kane. You… you knocked me out! With your mallet!?"

She looked a little sheepishly at the ground. "It's never happened before…"

Ranma rolled his eyes. "No kiddin'!" he exclaimed. "So… what worked?"

Akane looked back up. "After you passed out-"

"Got knocked out," Ranma corrected.

"I started trying to wake you up-"

The bump on Ranma's head started to ache. "Started hittin' me some more ta see if I'd wake up," he amended again. Akane started flushing brightly.

"Because you landed on the controls, and we started doing a nose dive right into the planet. When I couldn't wake you up or get at the navigation controls, I… I blew out the nacelle relays and the venting plasma leveled our descent."

Ranma blinked twice, his eyes going wide. "Geez, Akane, that's… that's brilliant! How the hell Didja come up with THAT?"

Akane glowed with pride. "I heard Commander Vegeta and Commander Jorgensen talking about the procedure in engineering the other day. They were arguing about who had been in a more dangerous one, I think…"

Ranma chortled. "Yeah… that sounds 'bout right." He looked around once more. "So, uh… what do we do about all this?"

Akane also inspected the useless runabout. "Well… we _are_ here to do a job. We might as well get it done."

Ranma nodded. "First things first. We'd better let the Wildstar know about the crash."

Akane flushed bright red again. "Do, uh… do we have to?"

Ranma looked at her like she'd just stuck her tongue on frozen steel. "No, but they might kinda suspect something when they see a crashed runabout, ya know?"

Akane lowered her head. "Oh… right."

"Saotome to Wildstar," Ranma tapped his com badge. A few seconds ticked by in silence. Nothing happened. Ranma tapped his badge again. "Saotome to Wildstar, respond."

Once again, there was no reply. He looked over at Akane worriedly.

"Here," Akane said. "Let me try it. Tendo to Wildstar, come in." she tapped her badge. Silence once more greeted them. "Tendo to McCoy… Tendo to anyone on board, please respond…"

Ranma was right worried now. "I don't understand… they're on their way ta Deep Space Three… Risa's communication towers an' satellite network should mean that we're still in comms range."

Akane was equally as puzzled. "I… I don't know, Ranma."

He thought to himself quietly for a moment. Understanding dawned on him all too quickly, and he looked at Akane with those large eyes he always wore when he'd figured out something he didn't want to.

"Kuno said the station was destroyed," he began. "What if whatever destroyed it… took out the Wildstar?"

Akane shook her head furiously. "Ranma, don't even think that!!" she took another step towards him. "There are good people on that ship, and they know how to get the job done! No way would it be that easy to take them out!!"

Ranma digested her words carefully, then slowly gave a weak smile and a nod. "Okay, you're right, 'Kane. So should we get to work, then?"

Akane nodded slowly, glad that she'd deterred his mind from that particular track. "Yeah. They'll contact us when they're done beating the crap out of whatever destroyed the station. Besides, it's not like we can do anything else. Seems to me that we're somewhat stuck down here."

Ranma nodded. "Deserted on a pleasure planet that's gone an' had a bad case of the flu or somethin'… go figure!"

Akane giggled beside him as they began to ruffle through the medical supplies together.

* * *

"This is a travesty of justice!!" Kuno's voice echoed through the halls of the cell area. "I DEMAND to speak to the pig-tailed girl! Surely it was Saotome who caused her to take such measures as these! I MUST make him pay for his evil sorcery over my two loves! GUARD!! Are you even listening to me??!" 

The guard snorted at the cell with little remaining patience. "Not like I can help but hear anything else!"

"Then you must realize that the vile Saotome has to be brought to justice for his crimes! He hath ensnared my hearts desires, and is using them for his own twisted evil desires!"

The guard shook his head, long since over the laughing fits Kuno had given him at first. "Look, buddy. The Captain says you stay in here until we reach space dock. That means you ain't going anywhere.

It was at that moment that Steven rounded the corner of the hall. Seeing the guard there, he quickly dove back around the corner. Pulling out his type III phaser pistol, he slapped a gadget onto the side of it and pressed a button. The small object began to beep softly, and then a green light appeared on it. He came back around the corner with the phaser leveled at the guard. As the guard noticed the armed man, he drew his own phaser, only to be stunned in his tracks when Steven opened fire. The guard slumped to the floor.

Kuno watched the exchange from his cell, and as the guard lost consciousness, he had only one question floating around in his limited brain.

"Why are there no alarms? That was unauthorized phaser fire!"

Steven was walking past Kuno's cell, and pointed quickly at the gadget affixed to the side of the power pack on his weapon.

"Silencer." He replied, intent on continuing in the direction he was originally heading.

"Wait!" Kuno hollered. "Thou must release me! I must serve justice upon the foul jester Saotome!"

Steven slowed in his tracks a bit before finally coming to a stop. He slowly turned and cast a sideways glance at Kuno once more. On the entire ship, he'd thought there would be no one to help him. This man's apparent personal vendetta with the Captain could mean that he would be the help he needed. He grappled with the idea for a bit, then finally turned the rest of the way and took slow, precise steps back towards Kuno's cell.

"You need to deal out justice?"

"That is correct, good sir."

"To Captain Saotome?"

"That CRETIN is NOT the captain! He but uses the pig-tailed girl's position to further his own devious desires! He MUST be stopped!"

Steven almost dropped a gut right there. He managed to hold it in, however, keeping the humor of the situation to a grin that plastered itself across his appearance. The man in the cell was apparently not all there, but that didn't really matter to him. The uniform he was wearing meant that he had some level of intelligence, at any rate. Just because he didn't know that Ranma was both male AND female… and just because the lack of that knowledge meant that he had apparently fallen for the Captain's female half… he stopped his train of thought, afraid that he would bust out laughing if he let it continue. He cleared his throat loudly.

"What's your name, Lieutenant?"

"I am the blue thunder of the Alpha quadrant, Tatewaki Kuno. And you, sir?"

Steven reached a hand over to the panel beside the forcefield and pressed a few buttons. The field vanished, and he grabbed the cricket-phaser from his belt and tossed it to Kuno.

"I'm your new boss."

* * *

"Whadda ya mean, there's no medical emergency?!" Ranma asked incredulously. Here he and Akane had traveled all the way to Risa, crash-landed (leaving them with no way to leave), the Wildstar wasn't answering ANY communications attempts, and now the government official stands there and says there's no problem?!? 

"I'm sorry that you traveled this distance," the official apologized once more. "As you can see, there is no medical situation on Risa."

Akane was lost for words. Ranma and herself were seated across the desk from the government official, having entered the nearest populace only ten minutes ago to find everyone walking around like nothing was wrong. She tried to comprehend how such a mistake could have been made. Had they been sent to the wrong planet? Ranma began to growl beside her, his scowl deepening as the official continued.

"I fear that you may have been the victims of some elaborate hoax."

Understanding washed over Akane's expression, and she quickly began to seeth, tossing a look in Ranma's direction. His fists were already clenching and unclenching in rapid succession, his snarl growing in intensity. Suddenly, he shot to his feet, holding his shaking fists out in front of himself.

"OYAJI, YOU ASSHOLE!!!!!!!!"

* * *

::snickering furiously:: THIS could get interesting! The story has officially taken on a life of its own, and I'm only aware, now, of the general direction the plot is going, nothing more! 

Let me know what ya think, folks!

MattSaotome


	14. M2 Chapter 4: Minutes to Midnight

Okay, I know it's not as long as my normal chapters, but when I reached the point that is the end of this one... ::grins:: I just COULDN'T write anything else in the chappie! It HAD to end with what it ends with! Er... just read. You'll see what I mean!

MattSaotome

* * *

Chapter 4

Minutes to Midnight

Shampoo fidgeted in her chair, occasionally hitting a button as the Wildstar continued at high warp towards the former Deep Space 3. She had been pouting furiously for the last two hours, and no matter what happened on the bridge, nothing appeared to improve her mood. From the command chair, Goku was occasionally eying the young Amazon warrior, and finally decided that it was high time he discovered what had her so down in the dumps. He rose from his chair and stepped over to her console. Leaning over it a little, he put both hands on the top of it and gave her a concerned look.

"What's bothering you, Commander?" he asked, genuine concern lining his voice.

Shampoo sighed deeply. "Airen not here," she explained. "Stupid mission to Risa mean husband leave with pervert girl. Now they alone together and no way to contact them."

Goku's face went from puzzlement, to surprise, to humorous, to sympathetic all within a few seconds.

"Commander, why do you call Doctor Tendo 'pervert girl'?" he finally asked.

Shampoo looked at him somewhat incredulously before remembering that he'd asked her a question. She sighed again.

"It long story," she answered. "Short version is Akane say something long time ago make her sound like pervert." Shampoo shrugged. "Now just call her that-"

"To piss her off?" Goku finished.

Shampoo took a second to nod, but finally admitted that her commanding officer was right.

"Now husband alone with her."

Goku leaned a little closer. He didn't know why, but he always loved lending an ear to people, if only to make them feel better.

"And this makes you upset," he surmised.

Again, Shampoo nodded. "Shampoo talk funny, but no mean is stupid. Shampoo know airen care for pervert girl. Shampoo see it too too often, even if he no admit it."

Goku smiled a little warmly. It was, after all, obvious as Shampoo had just put it. They could try to fight it, but when his Captain and the doc were in the same room together, you could practically TASTE the sparks flying back and forth between their auras. It was a wonder that the two hadn't jumped each other ages ago!

"Shampoo," Goku said softly, "If you know he feels for someone else, then why-"

"Is Amazon law!" Shampoo drew herself up indignantly. "Ranma beat Shampoo in battle. Law says Ranma becomes Shampoo's husband."

Goku sighed heavily. "I don't think the Captain would take very kindly to being 'owned'."

Shampoo began to pout again. "Shampoo know that, stupid… That why try to make him feel happy all the time. Husband always ignore Shampoo's effort…"

Goku didn't know what to say to that. He was, however, quite certain that he didn't want to be in the middle of this situation at all, so he quickly switched back to work mode.

"Well, anyways, any success in trying to raise Starfleet?"

Shampoo somberly shook her head. Goku breathed out heavy in frustration before turning back to his command chair and walking to stand in front of it.

"Ryouga, how long 'till we reach Deep Space 3?"

From her back console, Dana chuckled and muttered under her breath, "Assuming we're even heading that way…"

Ryouga's sharp hearing had him turning quickly to flash Dana a dirty look.

"Another hour or so," he answered before turning back and muttering something of his own.

* * *

Steven peered carefully around the next corner. Seeing only an empty corridor, he quickly pranced across it to continue on his way. It wasn't as if he couldn't just walk around the ship freely, but with someone who was supposed to be in the brig following closely behind, it certainly wasn't advisable that he be seen. As he continued their pace, Kuno was growing impatient. 

"Where are we going?" he hissed.

Steven didn't even bother to look back at him as he came to an access hatch for the Jeffries tube he intended to use to complete their journey.

"Auxiliary Control," he answered neatly. "We need to shut down the warp reactor and halt the ship."

"What?!" Kuno barely managed to keep his voice quiet. "But that will gain us nothing!"

Now Steven stopped, his ascent up the ladder to the tube halting at Kuno's unwanted criticism to his actions. He slowly turned to look down at the young man, letting go of the ladder with one hand.

"Listen, Blue Blunder!" He hissed. "I don't have time for twenty questions! There's a ship out there hunting this one, and we gotta stop the Wildstar before that'll do us any good!"

Kuno's eyes went a bit wide. "But… if this ship is destroyed… No! What will become of the beauteous Akane Tendo?! And my love, the pig-tailed girl!?"

"Quiet, you moron!" Steven snapped. "You need to relax! They both left in a runabout almost two hours ago! They'll be just fine!!"

Kuno's entire expression changed to one of determination as a grin played its way across his features.

"Then I shall truly have victory over the foul sorcerer Saotome! Both of my loves, freed from his evil grasp!"

Steven rolled his eyes. "Yeah, yeah, then you can go and fuck like monkeys, bla bla bla bla… Listen here, white noise! ANY more interruptions or stupid questions…"

Steven lifted his free hand, palm up, and stopped it just inches from Kuno's nose. The kendoist's eyes grew quite large as a ball of ki formed in Steven's upturned hand, glowing a terrifying red and reaching nearly eight inches in diameter. He swallowed hard at the implied threat, and decided that it was best not to look a gift horse in the mouth after all.

"U-u-understood…"

* * *

Ranma threw his starfleet issue back pack onto the bed in front of him with a huff before slumping down on it and holding his head up with his hands. In front of him, Akane was surveying the room with a wary eye. She dropped her pack on the floor near the entry way, sighing heavily as she noted the only flaw with the room that really mattered to her. 

"There's only one bed," she grumbled.

Ranma nodded slowly. "You can have it," he mumbled. "I'm used ta sleepin' on the floor, anyways."

Akane shot him a look. "How kind of you," she muttered sarcastically.

Ranma growled as he shrugged his reply. It was bad enough that he'd been told to do this mission in the first place. He was always so bored on these stupid medical runs. To make matters worse, his idiot of a father had sent him with Akane. Now, the two had recently discovered (after crash-landing there, of course) that there was no actual situation on Risa. Genma had led them there on a wild goose chase. They were effectively stranded, and had just been informed that there was only one remaining room in the entire settlement, since this was a popular time of year for tourists.

There was one thing that still puzzled him the most. If Genma had sent them there, he had to know that they would have been able to turn tail and leave upon discovering a significant lack of a medical emergency. There was absolutely no way that he could have predicted this exact turn of events; CERTAINLY no way that he could have known that they would be unable to contact the Wildstar to retrieve them. It just wasn't adding up.

"Yo, 'Kane," he called out, noting that she had retreated into the bathroom with a few supplies from her bag.

"Yeah?"

"How the hell did this happen?" Ranma began to look around, somewhat lost. "I mean, I know my pops would be stupid enough ta try somethin' like this, but… there's just no WAY he coulda predicted everything that's happened ta get us where we are now!"

Akane slowly emerged from the bathroom. Ranma was so right that it had her worried sick. Of course Genma couldn't have known what was going to happen to them… Sending them to Risa would have become a waste of time for an entire starship! The stupid fat panda hadn't even known the Wildstar wouldn't be here.

"I… I don't know…" Akane finally sighed.

Ranma shook his head. "Well, however he knew, it worked flawlessly."

Akane's face suddenly became angry again as she pointed a toothbrush at Ranma.

"YOU are sleeping in the living area, mister!"

Ranma snapped to full attention. "…What?!?"

Akane put her hands on her hips. "You heard me. I'm NOT sleeping in the same room as you, you pervert!"

Ranma drew himself up to his full height, looking quite intimidating. "Look who's the pervert, pervert! I wasn't even THINKIN' about sleepin' in the same room as you! Who'd wanna be anywhere near an uncute, violent tomboy like you, anyways?! 'Specially at night!"

Akane seethed, quickly changing tactics, even as she began to shake with emotion. "What, my body's not good enough for ya?!"

"Are you kiddin'?!" Ranma shot back. "You're built like a brick, your thighs are too thick, you look like a stick, your fa… ce…"

Ranma trailed off into silence. In front of him, Akane's head was hanging down low. Under her bangs, he could barely make out a deep red flush beneath her eyes, and blinked wide eyed as she began to cry silently.

"So… that's it, huh?" she whispered. "Never cute enough… never strong enough… never _woman_ enough…"

Ever so slowly, her face lifted until she was looking him in the eye. Ranma jolted hard at the sight of her tear-soaked face, managing to boil it down to a very slight flinch as she continued.

"Why?" she sniffed. "What… what have I done to deserve your hatred?"

Ranma flinched again, but quickly reacted to it this time. He immediately began to shake his head firmly before crossing the few steps of distance between where he was at the bed and where Akane was standing in the doorframe of the bedroom.

"No," he whispered firmly. "Never! I-I… I could… never, not for a moment…"

Akane continued to stare deep into his radiant copper-blues, searching for what he was trying to say, but coming up short. "Never… what, Ranma?"

He tried his best to think about how he would reply. He had to be careful what he said to her. After all, she detested their engagement so much… admitting _anything_ to her would be a huge mistake on his part, and most likely would end with him beaten to an unrecognizable pulp. Unfortunately for him, his mouth muscles would have _none_ of that, and quickly worked of their own accord, his vocal chords eagerly joining in the mutiny.

"I could _never_ hate you, Akane. Never!"

A tiny 'eep' left him immediately afterwards, and he slapped both hands over his mouth as he went redder than a stop light. Akane's eyes were bigger than saucers, and shimmering hard now. In spite of himself, Ranma whimpered against his hands.

_GOD, she's gorgeous!_ He thought, still fighting to regain his lost composure.

"Then why…" Akane asked. "Why act like it? Wait… no, I need to know… Ranma, do you… like me? At all?"

Ranma's hands slowly fell from his face, and his Rudolph impersonation slowly faded down to a modest blush as he began to examine the floor by the dresser.

"…What do _you_ think, tomboy?"

A second passed before Akane shook her head. "Don't do that, Ranma."

He looked up at her, puzzled.

"Don't hide behind name-calling like that, and don't try to make _me _answer a question I asked _you_."

Ranma sighed. "S-sorry, 'Kane." He knew it wasn't visible, but he could feel the very tiny shaking of his body. He trembled for a few long seconds before finally getting some of his voice back.

"I… I d-d-don't…"

Akane's face began to fall.

"…d-dis-like… you… Akane…"

Her expression shifted swiftly from depression to confusion mixed with anger.

"Wha… What the hell kinda answer is that?! It's just another stupid loophole!"

Ranma allowed his frustration to seep through. "Hey, I'm tryin' here, alright?! This ain't exactly easy stuff, ya know!!"

Akane snorted as she crossed her arms. "Shouldn't be too difficult for someone like YOU, Ranma! I thought you could master ANY challenge. I thought you weren't afraid of ANYTHING!"

Ranma became indignant. "I can! And I ain't!!"

Akane stepped right up to his face, sneering at him. "Then _prove it!_"

Ranma moved a little closer. "How?!"

"I don't know! Maybe give me some straight answers!"

"Then ask me a straight question!"

"I already did that!"

"So do it again!"

"Do. You. Like. Me?"

"No!" Ranma was getting furious now, but he sensed an enormous change in the playing field, his nose mere centimeters apart from Akane's. If he was gonna go down this way, she was _not_ getting off easily!

"A thousand times over, NO! I can't LIKE you, Akane!! It's physically impossible for me ta LIKE you when I LOVE you so DAMNED MUCH!!!"

Akane nearly fell backwards, but, realizing the game he had settled them into, held her composure as best she could, returning his furious declaration with equal fervor.

"Love me?!? Hah! How could YOU love someone as UNCUTE as I am?!?"

"You're only uncute because your so damned beautiful!! Cute doesn't even BEGIN ta describe you!!"

"What happened to me being a TOMBOY, then?!"

"THAT"S THE BEST PART OF YOU, YA IDIOT!!!"

"Prove it!!"

"WHAT??"

"You heard me!"

"Oh, so I suppose I should just kiss ya, then, is that it?!"

"Maybe you should!"

"Fine then, I will!!"

"Fine!!"

"FINE!!!"

Ranma and Akane threw themselves forward at the same instant, latching onto the other for dear life as their lips crushed together in a searing kiss. Both were almost immediately breathing hard, fighting to pour every second of their frustrating pasts through the suddenly electric connection. Every nerve ending in their bodies was on fire. Even as Ranma fought against his raging male instincts, Akane's knees began to fail her. Tongues shot out to push their way into the other's mouth, and as they began to caress, Akane let out a very feminine moan and Ranma shuddered.

His hands pressed into her back, holding her tightly to himself even as they moved up and down in exciting caress. She had both hands on his cheeks, holding his face like nothing else mattered. After her moan, one hand quickly found its way behind his head, pulling him deeper into the kiss. She took a handful of his hair in her grip before releasing it and sliding down to his pigtail. She grabbed onto it and tugged it towards her, having the same effect in the end.

In response, Ranma's wandering hands slid down her back to the top of her butt and in one smooth motion, slipped under her uniform top to begin caressing her bare lower back. He shuddered at the sudden contact he had initiated, and a low groan passed his throat. Akane sucked in a sharp breath through her nose, rising to her tip-toes and pulling him even harder towards her. The kiss kept getting more and more eager, the slight scraping of teeth becoming a mantra for their pent up desire as they continued to try and reign some kind of control over their raging hormones.

As if even considering the word 'hormone' could set someone off in a fragile situation, Akane lost control of her hands, and she soon found that she had effectively ripped the front of Ranma's uniform tunic open, and was already sliding it in no gentle manner off of his arms. Sentient thought left her as Ranma gave in to his urges, his hands now moving to the clasp of her bra beneath the fabric of her top.

Even as her hands reached down for his belt buckle, Akane barely managed to pull away from the kiss for the brief second it took to breath out a sentence.

"Thank _GOD_ there's only one bed!"

* * *

Heh heh... it wrote itself! Hopefully it isn't too horrible... 

MattSaotome


	15. M2 Chapter 5: The Chase

O.o

Holy crap, I live!!!

Sorry, folks. I got a serious dose of Real Life over the last month, so I've had to focus all my attentions there. Thankfully, the time for that has ended, and I've got new chapters coming up for all my stories! First off, the latest of Wildstar. After that, I'll have the final installment of Fagile, which will branch into a continuation called 'Trinity'. Descent to follow shortly thereafter!

OK, time to get down to business!!!

MattSaotome

* * *

Chapter 5

The Chase

Logan sat on a bench in the center of the main change room regarding his new uniform with a small amount of approval. As he eyed the material, only one thought went through his brain.

_At least it's not yellow spandex…_

It had been only ten minutes since Goku's announcement over the ships intercom that the Wildcards were to prepare for action. It had been the biggest surge of adrenaline he'd felt all day, and was definitely not unwelcome.

It took him only a moment to put the uniform on, and he marveled for a moment at just how well it fit. He began to test its stress limits, and was pleasantly surprised when he found that the uniform was both stylish _and_ functional, allowing for his full range of movement with ease.

Grunting in approval, he held his arm up in front of himself and gave his palm a quick squeeze. His claws leapt forth, ripping the material of his uniform gloves for the first time. He turned his hand once or twice, noting how the material hugged his claws closely. Then he allowed his mind to drift off a little.

_Something's coming,_ he thought. _I haven't felt right all day… feels like all hell's about to break loose._

Behind him, Scott had just finished stepping into his suit, donning his new eyepiece at the same time. He, too, had been quite pleased with the uniform, and had rapidly discovered how much wider a range of control the new 'visor' gave him over his frighteningly powerful mutant ability. He sighed heavily, getting the same knawing feeling in his gut and turned to Logan's back.

"You feel that?" he asked quietly, his voice coming to Logan's ears over the noise the rest of the team was making as they changed. Logan nodded once in reply.

"Yeah," he breathed. "I've been feeling it all day."

"I wonder what's going on?" Scott mused.

"I dunno," Logan replied. After another moment of silence, he grunted. "Feels like the mother of all fights is on the way."

"Yeah, no kidding."

"Better buckle up, one-eye," Logan quipped. "I think we're in for one hell of a ride…"

* * *

Will paced uneasily back and forth across the bridge of the Leviathan. He'd been waiting for some better news for the last four hours, but so far to no avail. It was really beginning to sicken him just how evenly his ship was stacking up against the Wildstar. 

"What is Wildstar's current speed?" he grunted.

"Warp 14.7, sir," his lieutenant replied.

He growled again. "Helm, what is our current velocity?"

The helm officer looked down at his console. "Warp 14.8, sir."

Will paced for a few more seconds before stepping roughly up to the helm station.

"Increase speed to warp 15."

The engineer jumped up from his station at the back of the bridge. "Captain!" He barked.

Will turned sharply to face him. "Listen, mister! If we don't outrun the Wildstar, we'll never catch up to her before she reaches deep space three, and we BOTH know that it'll only be a matter of time from there before they discover our shipyard in the nebula! Warp 15!"

"Captain, the engine's were never designed to handle that level of stress," the engineer argued.

Will snarled at this remark, regarding his engineer with disdain. "It's called a warp 15 engine, isn't it?"

"On paper!" The engineer retaliated.

"Well if paper says it can be done, then we're doing it!" Will snapped. "Helm, warp 15! Now!"

The helm officer gulped. "Aye, sir."

* * *

Goku was pacing across the bridge as well. Not five minutes earlier, their sensors had discovered the Leviathan in hot pursuit behind them. Wildstar had barely managed to match their speed, only to have the Leviathan jump to warp 15. 

"There's _no way_ they can hold that speed, commander," Dana reported to him. "They're venting drive plasma, and their manifolds are burning at near nuclear temperatures. I'd give 'em twenty minutes, maybe half an hour at most."

Goku turned to look at Shampoo. "Time to intercept?"

Shampoo looked worriedly at her console, then back at Goku. "Ten minute, present speed."

Goku swallowed hard. The former Deep Space three was still almost an hour away at their present speed. The next decision he made came difficult to him, but he knew that it was either that, or face off against the monster that was now gaining on them.

"Mr. Jorgensen," he called out. "Extend secondary hull nacelles."

Dana sucked in a sharp breath, instantly sensing what Goku had in mind, and knowing full well what the consequences would be if they failed.

"Aye, sir." She responded evenly.

"Bridge to Engineering."

"What is it now, Kakarot!!" Vegeta sounded annoyed. "Are you ready to slow it down now?"

Goku sighed heavily. "I'm afraid not, Vegeta. I need to go faster."

There was an audible snarl over the com line. "Keep in mind, Kakarot, that this is only a warp 15 engine."

Goku nodded as if Vegeta could see him. "I know that, Commander. I also know that we have a warp 10 engine sitting in the saucer section."

There was silence for a moment. Finally, Vegeta's cool reply drifted over the com. "You're going to use the power surge as a speed booster and coast out the eddies."

Again, Goku nodded. "That's correct."

A series of hollers and shouts could be heard in the background as the Saiyan commander barked outorders. Finally, Vegeta came back on. "We're ready down here, Kakarot. Just keep a close eye on the structural integrity… and be prepared to blow out a few control circuits."

"Ten four, Commander." Goku replied, closing the connection. "Helm, give me a maximum warp burst on the secondary hull nacelles, and then set the main reactor for warp 15."

Ryouga instantly began to sweat, knowing as well what the very unfortunate consequences would be if this failed. He swallowed hard as he obeyed the instructions.

"A-aye, sir."

"Hold on to your seats, folks!" Dana proclaimed from her console. "This is gonna get bumpy!"

* * *

Grissom stared at the viewscreen in front of him intently. On it was the Wildstar in all her glory. The ship had just lowered its secondary hull's nacelles and increased speed to Warp 15. The only reason his ship was keeping up now was the fact that they were riding the Wildstar's warp field for all it was worth. 

"Engineering, report?" Grissom asked.

"Structural integrity holding, Captain. We should be able to ride with them for a few minutes yet."

"Thank you, commander. Lieutenant, open a channel to the Wildstar, scrambler code Grissom Alpha."

The lieutenant looked up from his console. "Grissom Alpha, sir?"

Grissom nodded. "It's in the library databanks. Section 31's list of codes doesn't include it, but there is a crew member on the Wildstar who will be able to crack it with ease."

The lieutenant nodded. "Understood, Captain. Prepping Grissom Alpha."

Behind Grissom, a woman officer in a SI uniform stepped up to his chair, placing her right hand on the back of it. Grissom felt her presence behind him and sighed a little exasperatedly.

"I'm still not sure I should be doing this, number one…"

His first officer chuckled, her brown hair held up in a high ponytail by three blue beads, a few loose strands running in front of her ears on both sides.

"If you really weren't sure this was the right thing to do, you wouldn't be doing it, Gil."

Grissom let his eyes drift shut as a smile played over his expression. As usual, she was right on the money. "Thank you, Lita," he breathed. "It's good to know you haven't lost touch with reality."

She chuckled again. "Not for a few years anyways, my friend."

"Scrambler code prepared, Captain," the lieutenant reported.

Grissom nodded, entering business mode once more. "Open a channel."

* * *

The floor was a mess of torn clothing and strewn garments. Additionally, every flat surface between the bathroom and the bed had its contents emptied onto the floor. Slight panting could still be heard from the two occupants of the room, who were still under the covers of the bed, holding each other close. 

Ranma lay on his back with Akane snuggled up to his side, nearly asleep. He was sufficiently wowed. He went over the last few hours in his head over and over again, still completely awestruck at what had happened… and at just how damned good it had actually been!

He leaned down a little and kissed Akane's forehead lightly.

"That was amazing, 'Kane," he breathed out.

Akane blinked a couple of times and looked up at him with a dreary smile. "YOU'RE amazing, Ranma."

Ranma's face split into a bit of a cocky grin. "I know," he sighed righteously.

Kane's hand came up slowly and barely slapped his cheek, the force not even enough to make a very notable sound.

"Baka," she giggled.

Ranma's eyes quickly darted to either side of the room before looking back down at her once more.

"…Again?"

He didn't even get a verbal response as Akane instantly regained her lost energy and flattened him back on the mattress once more.

* * *

Ryouga's console chirped at him loudly over the bucking and shuddering of the ship. He looked down at his display console and frowned deeply. 

"Uhm… Commander?" he sounded unsure of what to make of the information he was reading.

"What is it, Ryouga?" Goku asked, crossing the distance from his command chair to the helm console.

"I'm picking up some very strange distortions in our warp field, aft quarter. I… I can't pinpoint it exactly… but it's there…"

Goku leaned over Ryouga's console and frowned as well. He didn't recognize the distortions either. He quickly stood straight again and turned to Shampoo.

"Ops, analysis!" He ordered, heading for her console now.

"Aiya!" Shampoo was also confused by what she saw on her screen, and began scanning for all she was worth, running one test after another just to have her console screech at her in protest as an end result. She sighed and shook her head. "Is no in library computer… Is unrecognizable to sensor… Shampoo no know either."

Mina hopped up from the second officer's chair and made a beeline across the room for Shampoo's console. Reaching the panel, she was quickly beside the Amazon, studying the distortion in the warp field with all her concentration.

"It… it doesn't make any sense. It's impossible for… waidaminute!!" She pressed a few buttons on Shampoo's console, rotating the scanning frequencies with an efficiency that Shampoo had never seen before. It almost made her dizzy how rapidly Mina was flipping through the spectrums. One thing that had not been mentioned was Mina's apparent knack for flying an Ops console. Suddenly, the counselor's eyes went wide, her face quickly twisting into panic.

"Sovereign-class starship bearing one eight zero! Cloaked! Distance: 500 kilometers! Dammit, the bastards are riding our warp field!!"

Goku was to his chair in an instant. "Full shields aft! Stand by all weapons banks!"

Mousse pushed buttons more frantically than he had during the battle with Cell, with only one difference: He was wearing his glasses this time.

"Quantum and Triphasic launchers locked and loaded… all phaser banks primed and ready, sir!"

Dana's console was the next to go off, and she hissed once more, resorting to her own finger dance across her panel as she hollered out over her shoulder.

"We just lost two more secondary control circuits, Commander! Our manifolds are approaching critical! There's no way to handle this speed much more than another ten or fifteen minutes!"

Goku nodded once as he continued to stand in front of his seat. "Understood."

"Commander!" Mina's voice rang out over the increasing volume of the ship shaking apart at the seams. "We're receiving a… I think it's a transmission from the Sovereign class riding our warp field."

There was a long pause, and Goku was beginning to lose his patience with the sudden dramatics. "And?"

Mina growled to herself for a second. "It's coded, standby. I… I think I recognize the decryption key. It's… Holy Shit!!!"

Ryouga's eyebrow went up as he looked at Mina awkwardly. "Do we wanna know?"

Mina quickly waved a hand in Ryouga's general direction, her face now suddenly lit up with what appeared to be a sudden spell of happiness. "I've cracked the scrambler, Commander! It's a secure channel. They're hailing us!"

Goku didn't waste a second in nodding and turning towards the viewer. "On screen."

The viewscreen tripped over static for a few seconds before hazing into the image of a seriously modified sovereign class bridge. At the center chair sat a man that Goku didn't recognize. His grey hair and etched features marked him around his late forties, and he was wearing a uniform that Goku had never seen before. Beside his chair stood a tall woman, definitely only in her mid twenties, dressed in the same odd uniform. The man in the command chair was the first to speak as a frown of apparent confusion crossed his features.

"Where is Captain Saotome?"

Goku's face became hard, a scowl of warning lining his features.

"I'll ask the questions here, Captain," he replied firmly. "Who are you, and why are you pursuing us?"

The man's face softened a little. "My apologies, Commander. Time is precious. I'm Captain Gil Grissom of the Federation SI Battlecruiser Sheffield. Beside me is my first officer, Commander-"

"Lita!" Mina's voice was warm and affectionate enough to make the whole bridge crew turn to look at her. What made them turn back was when the female on the viewscreen returned the greeting with an equal tone.

"Mina," Lita replied. "It's been a long time."

"Okay, what the hell is going on?" Ryouga asked, his nerves beginning to crack under the stress of the last couple of hours. To everyone's surprise, Mina was beside Ryouga in an instant, a glass of water suddenly in her hand that seemed to come out of nowhere, which she quickly upended over the helmsman's head.

"Shut up for a second!" Mina chastised the helmsman now turned piglet exuberantly.

"Bweee!!!" Ryouga retaliated verbally. "Bukwee, Bwweeeeee!!!"

"Ok…" Grissom's voice wavered a little. "Now I've seen everything!"

Goku grunted in mild irritation, but a strangely humored smile was tickling his cheeks. He'd have to fill in the Sheffield's captain later.

"Lita, what's going on?" Mina asked.

Lita looked to Grissom, who smiled at her for a second before waving at his viewscreen, obviously giving Lita the floor. Lita's face quickly became serious as she looked back at her friend.

"Mina, the ship pursuing you is called the Leviathan. It's weapons complement matches, if not slightly bests, your own. She's coasting at warp 15 right now on four nacelles, but she's got four more! Don't ask me to explain further on that one, but they have a top cruising speed of warp 18, but at extreme risk to the stability of the temporal dynamics of the surrounding space. If they really get desperate, they can catch you!"

Mousse had stepped away from his console for a moment, moving over to the first officer's chair. "The I.S.S Leviathan?"

On the viewscreen, Lita winced. "I'm afraid there's a strange story behind that one as well. Suffice it to say that there was an… exchange incident in one of Section 31's starbase nebulas, and they accidentally ended up with the dreadnought that's chasing you."

Goku snorted. "Great. A toy fell from the heavens into the laps of the most devious and deceitful organization known to the alpha quadrant. I hate Karma!"

Grissom chuckled dryly. "Commander, we have tactical information on the Leviathan, but not much. I'll send you what we've got, and hopefully you can put it to use."

Shampoo scowled. "How know YOU not Section 31? Maybe you trick us?"

Lita was quick to shake her head. "We were assigned by Starfleet Command to see to the needs of the Section 31 detachment deployed near Deep Space 3."

"After seeing the Captain of the Leviathan destroy the station mercilessly," Grissom continued for her, "We quickly re-evaluated our position with Section 31, and decided that our oath to Starfleet Intelligence superceded our orders from Starfleet Command. That ship MUST be stopped!"

Goku nodded. "I have to say that I agree, Captain. Ranma and our CMO are currently on Risa dealing with an apparent epidemic that overcame most of the populace. Unfortunately, they're not expected back any time soon."

Grissom grunted this time, and thought to himself for a moment. Finally, he spoke again. "Very well, Commander. Here is what I propose. We'll send you the data we have on the Leviathan and hope that you can make use of it in time. Meanwhile, the Sheffield will proceed to Risa to recover Captain Saotome, at which point we'll aid in the battle. Just make sure you can hold your ground against them until I return."

"How long?" Mina asked quickly.

"About a half hour round trip," Lita replied. "You're a lot closer to it than you realize."

Mousse huffed indignantly. "Could be the dreadnought chasing us…"

Lita nodded seriously. "I'll stay with you until Gil gets back."

Grissom looked at her quickly, but bit his tongue, knowing better than to argue with his first officer when it came to matters of her devotion. Instead, he finally nodded once and turned back to the screen.

"Commander Kino will beam over immediately. I'm sending you our data on the Leviathan. Good luck, Commander."

"God Speed, Captain," Goku replied. "Be back soon."

Grissom grinned without humor. "Win, so that I don't have to worry."

Goku mirrored the Sheffield's captain. "I intend to."

Ryouga shook a hoof to the sky, as if egging the Leviathan on.

"BWEEEE!!!!!!!"

* * *

Evil Grin Next up, Chapter 6: Boarded! 

Hopefully you guys haven't deserted me just yet... Review away!

MattSaotome


	16. M2 Chapter 6: In The Falling Dark

Wow! OK, so after having my ass handed to me for the last few months, I'm BACK!!! tiny party

So we left off with the Sheffield leaving to get Ranma and Akane from Risa, the Wildstar now fully versed on the ship following them, called the Leviathan.

Picking back up from there, it's time to move to Steven and Kuno, who have reached Auxiliary control, and are about to try and disable the Wildstar.

... Here we go again!!!!!

MattSaotome

* * *

Chapter 6

In The Falling Dark

Walls decorated with consoles; lights flashing in multi-colored brilliance. The room around him seemed to reflect his brain. At least, that was the way that his mind translated his surroundings. The flashing lights seemed to symbolize neurons firing in his skull. The complexity of the circuitry reminded him of how busy his mind would get as it would wander into unexplored theory, restlessly explaining all of mankind's plagues and problems.

The lieutenant of the Auxiliary control room was so preoccupied with his own thoughts that he didn't even notice the door open behind him. In fact, it was only the feel of cold, hard steel that snapped him out of his reverie as Kuno's Katana pressed lightly but firmly up under his chin from behind.

"Stand, Knave," Kuno ordered.

The irony of the situation was not lost on the lieutenant. In a world that had been modernized so heavily by technology, the feel of cold steel could still heighten a man's adrenaline in surges. The same primal fear that existed back in ancient days on earth when threatened with a sword still existed deep inside every man. Without a sound or any acknowledgement, the lieutenant slowly rose up out of his chair. As he stood to his full height, he heard another set of feet enter the room.

"The coast is clear, as far as I can -" Steven stopped hard in his tracks, seeing the lieutenant being held at Katana point. His face quickly twisted into annoyance. "Aw, come on, Blue Blunder. I thought you said you were a martial artist."

"I am, sir!" Kuno replied smoothly, pride seeming to swell from his vocal chords.

Steven stepped up to the lieutenant. "Then for God's Sake, man, exercise some Pressure Points!!"

As Steven said the last, he punctuated his words with swift blows to two points on the lieutenants body, then watched satisfied as he slumped to the ground in a full state of unconsciousness.

Kuno watched the lieutenant go limp and fall, and his expression quickly shifted from pride to wonder.

"Would that I were as gifted as you, noble Stoltz. If I had your keen abilities, why I would be able to -"

"Shut up!" Steven growled. The clock was ticking, and his mind was keeping perfect track. He knew that if he didn't get the Wildstar stopped, they'd enter the nebula in less than ten minutes. He knew all too well what Commander Goku's duties would have to be then. It was bad enough that the ship was already going to be destroyed. Involving anyone else through unwanted communiqués and the like would have disastrous consequences for the learning party.

He stepped up to the controls evenly; now surveying the many flashing panels and blipping displays with hungry eyes, seeming to be searching with incredible yearning yet reined fervency for the one panel he was looking for.

"You have to learn…" he was almost whispering, causing Kuno to step a little closer to him in order to properly understand his words. "How to do things…" Steven's eyes finally locked in one place, and a smile crossed his features slowly, lining his cheeks with an almost boy-ish grin. "With a little more finesse."

His lesson completed, Steven stoically brought his arm up, his hand hanging loosely out in front of him with an index finger barely curled outward. Kuno watched him, almost in a mesmerized state, soaking in the scene of his obvious peer doing what he apparently did best. Steven lowered his arm, his limp hand resting on a series of controls, covering that particular panel almost completely with his palm. To Kuno, it seemed as if the marine's smile got just a tad bit wider as a shock shot through Steven's arm.

His hand glowed white hot for an instant, and the bottom side of the console, a good eight inches thick, blew out hard, the light controls across its surface now flashing on and off in short circuit.

Kuno's jaw hit the floor as Steven retracted his arm, the hole in the top of the console coming into plain sight as his palm moved away.

A loud klaxon immediately began to sound in the room; the pre-recorded voice of the computer system coming to life around them and, it didn't take a rocket scientist to surmise, around the whole ship as well.

"Primary computer core failure," the emotionless voice intoned. "Auxiliary backups compromised. Demagnetization of Primary Computer Module in ten seconds. Clear all catwalks. Clear all catwalks."

Kuno looked somewhat frantic at the sound of the alarms, his gaze shifting from right to left quickly.

"What have you done??" he nearly hollered.

Steven had a perma-grin plastered on his face, shaking his head from side to side like he couldn't believe it had actually worked.

"Brought us to a grinding halt, I do believe!" he replied with a chuckle.

Kuno appeared annoyed for a brief instant, but his expression seemed to quickly re-evaluate his standing against the marine commander, his throat barely letting his sharp reply slip.

"You said we were coming here to shut down the warp reactor, not the whole ship!"

Steven regarded Kuno oddly for a moment before his imp-ish smile returned.

"Oops," he replied evenly. He waited only a second longer before turning on his heel for the exit. "Come on, Blue Blunder!" He hollered over his shoulder at the still shell-shocked Kuno. "We have to get to the shuttle bay before the Leviathan overtakes the Wildstar!"

Kuno stammered where he stood for only a second before realizing that Steven had no intention of waiting around for him to catch up. He immediately broke into a run in pursuit.

"Wait, noble Stoltz!" he cried. "I follow!"

* * *

Goku stared at the viewscreen expressionlessly, standing just two feet from the command chair. Before him, an aft image showed a magnified enhancement of the Leviathan heading straight for them, apparently keeping even time with their already overworked engines. The thing that bit deepest at the first officer was the knowledge that, if they so desired, the Leviathan could overtake them in an instant. Sure, there would be consequences, as Grissom's number one had explained, but Section 31 was just the right type of idiots to completely ignore those consequences if it advanced their agenda. In his mind, he was already envisioning the image before him sprouting four more nacelles and jumping to some radical speed like warp five thousand or whatever.

"Time to the nebula?" he asked in monotone.

To his left, Shampoo quickly consulted her readout with a blink of her eyes. She looked back at Commander Goku with no shift in her facial features, keeping a stoic, yet doomed expression.

"five minutes."

Time ticked by agonizingly slow, seconds passing like hours to the bridge crew, who knew that a single slip up now would cost them the race. Everyone there knew that, once they had reached the nebula, shields would become useless piles of emitters, leveling their playing field completely with their approaching grim reaper.

"How much longer can we hold warp fifteen?" Goku questioned again. From her console at the back of the bridge, Dana looked down for a moment, stroking two commands on her console before looking back up to Goku.

"Two seconds short of nebula ETA," she replied.

In front of him, a restored Ryouga sucked in a sharp breath. Two seconds of warp fifteen translated into days at impulse. The Leviathan would be on them in an instant.

Goku set to weighing his options in the matter, searching his mind for a solution to their problem. They could open fire on the Leviathan at warp fifteen, but the immense gravimetric distortions caused by their massive warp trail would confuse the torpedo's guidance systems too much for accurate shooting. He chuckled bitterly to himself over the irony of that sacrifice when Starfleet put out the prototype warp fifteen reactor. Leave it to those no-brainers to not figure out how to dampen down the damned warp field before releasing the engine for active service.

He dismissed the idea of pot-shots on their aggressor, and was about to move on to other considerations when a loud klaxon began to ring out around them. Everyone jumped in their seats, the blaring alarm frying nerves all around the bridge that were all too tense with anticipation.

Consoles around them began to flicker on and off, and the ship gave a larger shudder before the computer's voice came to life.

"Primary computer core failure. Auxiliary backups compromised. Demagnetization of Primary Computer Module in ten seconds. Clear all catwalks. Clear all catwalks."

Dana's face fell into dismay, Goku already mere steps from her console as he jogged towards her.

"What the fuck??!" she swore, frantically trying to work her console even as it slowly started to die.

"Report!" Goku hollered over the klaxon.

Dana shook her head from side to side, obviously confused by what was happening. The computer had told them what the problem was, so she already knew that this wasn't what Goku was asking for. He wanted answers as to _why_ the computer was shutting down, and all she knew as her console faded to black permanently was that she had none to give.

"I… I don't know!" She replied sharply. "The damned computer core is gonna eject!!"

"We're dropping outta warp!" Ryouga's frantic cry called Goku back across the bridge. He wasn't even half way to the helm station when it, and the remaining consoles around the bridge went dark.

"What the hell is going on??" Mousse was going nuts at his station, resorting to slapping the dark display in hopes that it would just flicker back to life before his very eyes. In the middle of the bridge, Goku was turning in circles, confirming for his own eyes that every station had gone down as he ran both his hands slowly through his hair in frustration.

Mina observed the reactions around the bridge with all the calm she could muster, ready to diffuse the heavy situation should people's actions become volatile in the face of disaster. As she considered her position, another thought struck her. Suddenly the bridge crew's worry and panic seemed all too warranted. With desperation alight in her eyes, she turned her gaze up to commander Goku, who at that instant settled his on her in return.

"The Leviathan…" Mina whispered.

"Brace yourselves!" Dana ordered as all other sound on the bridge fell into silence. "The computer core's about to eject!"

True to the assistant chief engineer's mental clock, another second ticked by when a violent jerk was felt through the deck plating.

The blips and beeps were gone. The hum of the injectors was silent. The lights on the bridge gave one final flicker, and blackness took the room. Through the painfully quiet darkness, only the heavy breathing of anxiety came to everyone's eardrums; it's tainted qualities soaking in the fear that now pulsed from every heart nearby.

With the lack of light, Goku found a bittersweet comfort in his heightened senses and strengthening mental clarity. Precious seconds flew by before he turned to where he felt Dana's presence.

"Mr. Jorgensen, how long do we have before the Leviathan overtakes us?"

"How the hell should I know??" Came the unsure reply, the waver in her voice betraying her unease.

"Think, dammit!" Goku insisted. "You're an engineer. Math is your best friend. How far was the Leviathan from us at our last scan?"

"Uhh…" Dana fought hard with her mind, trying to recall the numbers. "Two sectors?"

"OK…" Goku continued to prompt her. "If that's correct, and we're at a dead stop, how fast can a starship at warp fifteen cross two sectors?"

"Ten minutes!" Dana crowed, feeling somewhat victorious in her skills.

"What good that do us?!" Shampoo's voice was heard. "We no can fight!"

"The ship won't run without the computer core!" Mousse put in his two cents. "It's hopeless! We're done for!"

"Keep that to yourself, mister!" Goku ordered. "I don't wanna hear that kind of attitude from _anyone_ here! Is That Understood??"

Silence greeted his question.

"Good." He sighed heavily. "Constructive suggestions, people! We have just under ten minutes before that monster gets here. What can we do to regain control of the ship?"

Ryouga's voice was the next to break through the darkness.

"What about rigging up a computer core from one of the runabouts?"

"Screw that!" Dana chuckled dryly. "_Fifty_ runabout computers couldn't hope to come anywhere close to _one percent_ of the processing power necessary!"

"…you don't have to be so blunt about it…" Ryouga mumbled quietly in reply.

"We could recover the computer core with one of the shuttlecraft," Mousse began to gain confidence. "Re-insert it and fire it back up!"

"Just to watch the ship spit it back out again?" Ryouga's rhetorical reply came. "Come on, Mousse. Something made it dump the damned thing. What's to say it won't happen again?"

"I hate to agree with the little pig, but he's right." Dana concluded.

"Hey!!" Ryouga spat back. "Don't call me that!"

"Sorry, Pchan."

"ENOUGH!!"

To everyone's surprise, it was Shampoo's voice that had shattered the sound barrier. Silence fell once more, and the seconds ticked by with everyone listening to their own breathing again.

"Wait…" Ryouga's voice sounded like it could have come from Sir Isaac Newton after the apple fell on his head.

"Wait!" He reiterated. "Didn't… Didn't Mr. Jorgensen say that Sickbay was a stand alone system now??"

More silence.

"Oh… My… God…" Dana's stunned voice was low.

"What?" Goku asked.

"He's right!" Dana mused.

"About what?" Goku asked again.

"I am??" Ryouga sounded shocked.

"Yeah!!" Dana was getting louder with each word.

"Right About What??" Goku insisted. He could already tell that Dana was standing now, her aura seemed to confirm that her mood had just shot through the roof.

"If we get down to Sickbay," Dana explained finally. "We can reroute all bridge functions to the stations there! Sickbay has it's own computer systems!! Pchan, that's BRILLIANT!!!"

"Aww, it wasn't all that… HEY!!!"

* * *

Will let out a deep breath, happy that the shifts had finally rotated. Not that he held anything against the nightwatch staff; it was simply that he had grown most accustomed to working with his day crew. He watched as they sauntered in from the turbolifts, each one walking up to their station and relieving the officer there.

His helm officer was a man named Spike. Well… Maybe 'man' was putting it the wrong way. Spike was a creature, not a man. A vampire, to be precise. Something created to kill that was now, through Section 31's careful training, also quite proficient at it. Will liked him for his decisiveness and ingenuity. Of course, the accent had absolutely nothing to do with it. At least, that was what he would tell your average monkey.

Over at the tactical station, the security deputy Xandir (a man who shared a passive aggressive relationship with Spike) was being relieved by one of his favorite crew members.

At five foot six, his chief of security looked like something right out of a blockbuster film. Black dress boots sported four-inch heels and were polished to a beautiful shine. Black slacks were actually one with the top tunic of the same color, a yellow sash tied firmly at the waist for department emphasis purposes only. The single yellow pinstripe that surrounded the shoulders was higher on this uniform than any other, the neck stitch actually residing only an inch higher than it, giving the uniform a 'cut-off' look just above the shoulders; a blue flame pattern extending down either sleeve from the neck. A 'sawed-off shotgun' at the waist was custom retrofitted and was actually a 'sawed-off' plasma rifle, giving the whole ensemble it's wonderfully dangerous touch.

Lieutenant Commander Rebecca Geisbrecht watched with some mild amusement as her deputy stepped into the turbolift and was promptly gone from the bridge. Some kind of mischief glistened in her eyes as she looked over at the figure approaching the Captain's chair.

A hand came down on the nightwatch COS officer's shoulder, causing him to turn and regard the person beside him.

"You're relieved, Lackey," a gruff, yet slightly goofy voice said.

Will didn't even have to look up as a smile crossed his face.

"Morning, House," he said sincerely.

"Oh, is it that time already?" Commander Gregory House looked down at his captain from his standing position. Limp-less, thanks to 24th century technology of course, his sense of humor and huge ego were at their prime. "Please, mommy, can I serve up a plate of whoop-ass before breakfast? It goes good with my cheerios."

Now Will's smile faded a little, and he turned his chair to face his first officer.

"You don't think we should destroy the Wildstar," he intoned. "Do you?"

House shook his head a little in reply, dropping the sarcasm for a second. "No, that's not what I said. You can destroy whatever your mangy little heart desires. I just think you should empty it first."

At the helm station, Spike began to laugh, turning his chair also.

"What, THAT??" He jabbed a thumb in the direction of the viewscreen, where an image of the Wildstar running at top speed was firmly plastered. "How you gonna do that then, mate? Walk up and _ask them_ if they could just please abandon ship and hop into our holding cells?"

House flashed a sarcastic smile at the helmsman that was just as quickly gone. Spike absorbed his silence and continued.

"THAT," he pointed a finger right at the image now, "Is a Cutter Class Dreadnought-Battle-Cruiser. They _certainly_ won't let us tromp up and walk all over them! Use your head, House!"

As if it were waiting for Spike to stop speaking, a brief alarm went off at the Ops console. Commander Thomas Riker looked down at his display station, and was quickly reduced to a frown. "What the…"

Will leaned to the side a little, looking past his first officer to the Ops station.

"What's going on, Tom?" he asked firmly.

Riker shook his head slowly, reminding his vocal chords to answer before his captain fetched a phaser.

"The Wildstar just suffered a ship-wide blackout. Their…" he scowled at his readout once more, officially baffled beyond all measure. "Their computer core's been dumped!!"

House frowned. "What?!"

Will was on his feet, heading for the commander's station. He came up right beside Riker and consulted the readout with his own eyes.

"Holy Shit," he mused. "Ace did it! He's completely disabled them!"

"Wildstar's falling to a dead stop, sir," Spike reported, looking back at House with a slightly shamed expression.

For his own part, House just gave a little snort.

"Cheerios, anyone?"

* * *

The doors to sickbay swooshed open as McCoy was walking past them. He turned in his tracks to face them, only to be greeted with the sight of the entire bridge crew pouring in.

"Uhh…" he looked over them all curiously. "Mass headache?"

Dana chuckled as Goku stepped forward.

"Afraid not, Doc," he replied. "We're invading your space for a while."

"What's going on?" McCoy asked.

"We're not entirely sure how," Dana began to explain. "But the main computer went haywire and dumped itself."

McCoy's jaw almost hit the floor. "It did what??"

Ryouga made a dismissive noise. "Yeah, exactly."

"We- uh… w-I mean…" the doctor began to stammer. "Why come to sickbay?"

"Well in case you haven't noticed, Doc," Goku answered. "You have power."

Michael wasn't putting it together. "Uhh… yeah. So?"

Dana rolled her eyes. "Sickbay's systems are independent of the rest of the ship, genius. We're setting up an emergency command center here."

Without another word to the doctor, everyone else set to work. Goku stood by the thoroughly lost physician, looking at him with a mild smirk on his face.

"Relax, Bones," he chuckled. "We'll clean up our mess!"

The wordless McCoy just stood for a second longer before abruptly turning and walking away.

"This is going to be a long day…" he muttered to himself.

"Gimme about five minutes here, Commander," Dana called out. "We'll be ready to rock in no time flat!"

"Understood."

* * *

"HOW MANY????" Rebecca almost shouted.

She stood in front of her captain's desk in his ready room, her mouth wide in shock.

"I want a thousand men on that ship," Will reiterated himself. "I don't care if you have to pile security forces into the cargo bays to perform the transports."

"Set all your weapons to stun," House told her, standing to the left of Will's desk. "Including that fancy relic you carry around."

"Stun?!" Rebecca intoned. "What the fuck is up with that?"

Will sighed, shooting a look over at House. Obviously, if his first officer hadn't said anything, Will himself never would have suggested the idea.

"All of your weapons have modified energy discharges," Will began to explain. "If you shoot someone, we can lock on to the unique signature with the transporters and beam stunned crew to our ship."

Rebecca looked like she hated the idea. House sauntered over to her and stood at bay, crossing his arms as he regarded her with small bemusement.

"Kinda like a sympathetic version of Russian Roulette."

"Screw off, House," Rebecca warned.

"I don't like this either, Commander," Will leaned forward in his seat. "But the reality of the matter is the body count is already higher than section 31 likes to handle."

"Never stopped us before," Rebecca snorted.

Will shot another look over to House, who simply smiled menacingly at the security chief.

"That was pre-House. You're part of the fan club now, Miss Croft!"

Fed up with the antics surrounding her, Rebecca swung around to face the first officer, pulling her sawed-off rifle out of it's holster in the same swing. With practiced precision, she pulled the trigger, blasting house right in the shoulder. With a spin, he hit the deck, now fully unconscious. Holstering her side arm once more, she turned back to Will with a hopeful half smile.

"Now can I do it my way?"

Will didn't budge, obviously used to the circumstances before him. "No."

Rebecca gave a single pouting stomp. "Dammit."

Will leaned back in his seat, slinging an arm over the back of the chair comfortably.

"Get everything ready, Commander. I want the Wildstar boarded within minutes."

Rebecca's eyes went wide. "…Minutes?"

"I'd get ta work, if I were you." Will intoned.

Rebecca made a disgusted noise, turning on her heel to leave the room. As the doors swooshed open to let her out, she shot a single comment back over her shoulder.

"Asshole."

"You love me," Will returned with a half grin.

"Dream On!" Rebecca shot back with a wave just as the doors closed behind her.

* * *

"We're coming on-line now, commander," Dana called out. Goku stepped over to where she was sitting in front of an assembled console plugged into a wall interface. It was one of four set up around the room. He leaned over her shoulder for a second before putting a hand on it.

"Good work, Mr. Jorgensen," he smiled. "Is the communications network active?"

Dana punched a few more commands in, then looked back up at him. "It is now."

Goku immediately tapped his com badge.

"Goku to Vegeta."

"Kakarot, what the hell is going on??" Vegeta's frustrated voice drifted over the badge. "My men are running around with hand-held flashlights trying to find our computer core!"

"They won't find it," Goku chuckled dryly. "It glitched hard and dumped itself."

Silence.

"The bridge crew and I have set up an auxiliary command center here in sickbay. We've performed a systems integration, so all we need is for you to fire up engineering's backup generators, and we can hook your computer terminals right into sickbay's network from here."

"Understood," Vegeta replied, abruptly ending the communiqué.

"Sensors," Goku said quickly. "Where is the Leviathan?"

Shampoo set to work immediately. Seconds went by before her face paled.

"Is straight off starboard bow. Is just sitting there."

"Red Alert!" Goku hollered.

"Engineering to sickbay. The generator's on-line. Give us computers and you've got a ship again!"

Goku immediately shot a finger at Dana. "Do it! Then raise shields!"

"Security breach!" Mousse shouted. "Boarding parties detected! All decks!!"

"We're on-line with all systems," Dana informed.

"Mousse," Goku whipped around to face him. "Get security teams on the move. Inform the Wildcards of the intruders and co-ordinate your defenses. Arm all weapons!"

Mousse nodded once as Goku tapped his com badge again.

"All hands, Battle Stations!"

* * *

dramatically climactic music

So... hopefully you'd still like to drop some reviews my way... if you haven't all abandoned me, that is...

Lemme know!

MattSaotome


	17. M2 Chapter 7: Boarded!

Chapter 7

Boarded

"Raise Shields!" Goku hollered.

* * *

"Wildcards move out!" Mousse's voice sounded over the com system in the locker room. "Wildstar has been boarded. All decks. Repeat, Wildstar Has Been Boarded. Intruders located on all decks!" 

"Looks like it's show time," Scott quipped. Beside him, Logan sat on the bench with the independent camp-light casting its rays against the side of his face, causing him to appear all the more lupine.

"Time to party," Logan grunted.

"Cowabunga, dude!" came the cry from across the room, the turtles also obviously itching for some action.

"Heh," Scott grinned. "Looks like they're all fired up!"

Logan just shook his head from side to side in mild bemusement.

"Turtles on a marine squad…" He stood now, turning to face the barracks in the adjoining room which the Turtles were standing in front of. Clearing his throat a little, he took a deep breath and addressed them.

"Listen up. While Ace is gone, I'm in charge. Any questions?"

The one with the red bandanna spoke first. "What makes you so special there, chief?"

"Cut it out, Raf," The one with the blue bandana growled. "That's Wolverine you're trying to argue with. If he wants to lead the troops, I say let him. I'd trust him with my life!"

With an expression that didn't seem to completely agree with his team mate, Rafael turned his gaze back to Logan.

"Lead on, oh fearless one."

* * *

"Who turned out the damned lights, anyways?" Lita asked the darkness, keeping a hand against the bulkhead to keep her bearings. She knew she'd eventually have to come to the end of the hallway, and from there it would be easy to find a Jefferies tube. She knew she still had to get to the bridge, regardless of the situation. Her duty now was to report to Commander Goku and advise him. 

Her left ear twitched suddenly, and she felt a tingling sensation flow through her blood. She quickly dipped into the corner she'd just found and laid low, recognizing the feeling of hair rising on the back of her neck.

_Someone's just beamed aboard… damned near right on top of me, too!!_

"Did you see which way they went?" A voice whispered in the darkness.

"No, sir." Another replied.

Lita began to count how many sets of feet she could hear pressing into the carpet in the hall. Slowly, silently, she brought her arms up, her hands clasping together in front of her. She continued to listen, waiting…

"I don't get it," his second was baffled. "One minute, my goggles showed a life form reading… now it's gone!"

Xandir growled low at the ineptitude of the moron standing beside him.

"Well, keep looking for it, stupid! Life forms don't just disappear, you know."

"Understoo-" Silence.

"Martin?" Xandir muttered, noting with confusion that his search light revealed the spot where his second had been standing to now be empty. "Martin, if this is a game, I'm not laughing."

"Sir, I just lost Kuri!" one of his men from behind hissed.

"What do you mean, lost him?!" Now Xandir was worried, his search light flying in random directions, trying to locate something visually. If it weren't for the heavy fog around him, he might have been able to see more. Where the hell was that coming from, anyways? "Dammit, I can't see a THING in here! These search lights are useless. Can't someone turn on the damned power?!"

"_Your wish is my command…"_ a voice whispered in his ear, sending a surge of fear rushing up his spine that someone had gotten so close to him undetected. He felt the rush of a small breeze, but his analysis of it was short lived as a spark of blue electricity arced out around them. All their search lights shorted out in succession, and total darkness enveloped the group. Heavy breathing began to grow deeper as panic started to embed itself into Xandir's men.

"Someone's there!!" One of them shouted, firing his phaser forward regardless of his inability to see anything.

"Stand down, soldier!" Xandir barked. "Random shooting isn't gonna get us anywhere."

"Aaug-!" Silence.

"Fuckin, bastard's taking us out one at a time!!" Xandir snarled, hefting up his pulse phaser rifle and cocking it. "Pulse rifles to kill! Night vision!"

Before anyone could respond to Xandir's last command, the hallway in front of them began to spark and crackle, blue ribbons of electricity growing in intensity. At the center of the disturbance, a sphere began to form, glowing white-hot with pure energy; seeming to both create and absorb the shocks around it as it swelled: And Xandir could finally make out a form from its light, though it appeared only as a shadow beyond the great sphere. It was the form of someone walking towards them slowly. He raised his arm up against the blinding apparition before him, barely noting the screams of his men around him as they fired everything they had at the figure, only to watch it all get sucked into the globe of raw power, feeding it even more of what it already was. Almost able to see a face, Xandir began to recognize some of the 'shadow's' features, indicating to him a betrayal that he had never considered, and finally ripping his last coherent thought from him.

_Oh… Fuck Me!_ "Lita," he whispered, his eyes going wide with fear.

A grin split her expression.

"Who're you calling a bastard?"

* * *

"Now entering Risa orbit, captain." 

Grissom swiveled in his chair to face the view screen, exhaling a breath with anticipation that he hadn't realized he'd been holding.

"Thank you, con," he nodded. "Ops, open a channel to the main government building."

"Channel open, Captain."

On the viewscreen, the planet spinning beneath them was replaced with the image of a Risa man, a hospitable smile writ over his expression.

"Welcome to Risa, Captain!" He proclaimed. "What can we do for you today?"

Grissom smiled. It was nice to see that not everyone in the universe had forgotten what a spell of kindness could do for another person. Nodding once, he stood from his chair and stepped over to the con station. He began to speak as he put a hand up on his lieutenant's chair.

"Good afternoon, Governor. My name is Captain Gil Grissom of the Federation Starship Sheffield. I'm looking for one Captain Ranma Saotome of the starship Wildstar. He was reported to be here with his CMO resolving a planet-side crisis?"

An expression of memory passed over the Governor, his eyes twinkling a little.

"Ah, yes. The 'Medical situation' that we were apparently suffering from."

A look of confusion found its way onto Grissom's face.

"That you were 'Apparently'? Was there no emergency, then?"

The governor nodded a couple of times, still smiling.

"As I stated to Captain Saotome when he arrived, I do not know who gave that report to Starfleet, but they were seriously mislead. There is no situation on Risa whatsoever. We're all just fine, Captain Grissom."

Grissom shook his head, still unable to wrap his brain around the whole thing.

"If," he breathed, allowing a half-smile to cross his face as he remembered reading Ranma's Officer Profile just a few days prior. "If what you say is true, then can I assume something happened between himself and his CMO that kept them planet-side?"

At this, the governor burst into merry laughter. Grissom's smile became full-blown as he realized that he'd just hit the situation right on the money. But what had happened?

"Yes, yes, quite so, Captain. Bravo!" The governor was still chuckling. "Your stray captain's CMO apparently comes equipped with one hell of a temper! I am not too sure of the exact circumstances, but their shuttle crash-landed here. They have been staying in one of the rooms waiting for their starship to return."

Grissom's face lost all traces of humor at the mention of the Wildstar.

"Governor, it is imperative that I speak with Captain Saotome immediately. The Wildstar has entered into a… situation. He needs to be returned to his ship as soon as I can get him there."

At the business-like tone in Grissom's voice, the Governor quickly adjusted his behavior accordingly, responding with a curt nod.

"Of course, Captain Grissom." He reached for the controls on his desk. "I will transfer you to his room immediately."

Grissom smiled a final thanks as the image of the Governor blipped out. In its place was darkness. Grissom waited a few seconds, believing the transfer to still be in progress. After about twenty seconds, however, he turned to his Ops officer in confusion.

"Are we experiencing difficulties, Commander?" he asked her. She double checked her instruments before looking back at her captain, shaking her head.

"According to my instruments, sir, that IS the image of Captain Saotome's room. Resolution is sixteen-thousand-by. Audio is transmitting at 44.4 MHz. I… I think something is covering the image scanner, sir."

Grissom frowned, but turned back to the screen, nonetheless. Clearing his throat, he spoke a little louder.

"Uh… Captain Saotome?" There was no response. Grissom waited a few seconds, then tried again. "Ranma Saotome, are you receiving me?"

A deep inhale sounded over the com now, and Grissom could hear the sound of someone moving around on a bed.

"Whu…" Ranma's voice could be heard. "Who's… who'z'it?"

Grissom began to smile a little again.

"Captain Gil Grissom of the Federation Starship Sheffield," he replied. "Captain, I'm not receiving an image of you."

There was a loud thump, a curse, and the sound of footfall getting closer. All in one smooth motion, the veil of darkness shifted, and there was a discarded Starfleet tunic flying off to the side. Ranma rubbed his face groggily, oblivious to the fact that he had nothing on, and not realizing exactly how lucky he was that the desk chair was so perfectly placed that it hid his lower anatomy entirely from the image scanner.

"Go ahead, Captain," Ranma groaned, finishing off by rubbing the sleep out of his eyes.

Grissom chuckled at Ranma's state, putting both hands on his sides as he shook his head for a moment before continuing.

"Captain, I'm here at the behest of your first officer and my own recommendations to him. We are to carry yourself and Commander Tendo back to your ship."

Ranma frowned. "Is there a problem?"

Grissom nodded now, holding nothing back. "There is, Captain, a very big problem. Please prepare to beam aboard immediately. Your ship may be, quite probably, under heavy attack even as we speak."

* * *

"Uh… I think they're mad, Commander!" Mousse's voice thundered over the latest boom that resonated through the Wildstar's hull. From where he was standing, Goku shifted his weight to stay on his feet, shooting a look over at Mousse. 

"No, really?" he growled.

"Probably 'cause we cut off their troops in mid-transport!" Dana returned.

"Ahead full impulse, Mr. Hibiki!" Goku ordered. "Evasive pattern Sulu Beta!"

From his make-shift helm console, Ryouga frowned.

"Which one's That?" he asked, panicked.

Goku rolled his eyes. "You mean to tell me that, all this time, you've been _faking_ your knowledge of evasive maneuvers??"

The ship shook again as Ryouga replied.

"Not all of it!!" His burst of composure failed. "Just… most of it."

"Stupid!!" Shampoo insulted him from the other side of sickbay.

"Dammit, we don't have time for this!!" Goku cursed. "Ryouga, look it up!!"

Ryouga blinked at him.

"NOW!!!" Goku hollered. Ryouga let out a little yelp, and quickly turned to his console, muttering 'Sulu Beta' under his breath repeatedly as he searched. The ship shook again.

"They're firing Quantum torpedoes at us, sir." Dana reported. Goku frowned. Why weren't they blasting the Wildstar for everything she was worth? Commander Kino's report had indicated the Leviathan carried triphasic torpedoes, just as the Wildstar did.

"Got it!" Ryouga cheered. "I GOT IT!!!"

"So _Use It_, Lieutenant." Goku ordered.

"Aye, sir," Ryouga replied, laying the evasive maneuvers in.

"It doesn't make any sense for them to not be using their best against us, sir," Mousse reported. "I think this is meant to be a distraction for us."

"To what end?" Mina asked him. "There's nothing we'd do differently-"

Goku held up a finger to silence Mina.

"Mousse is right," he stated. "They have no idea that we've received tactical intel from the Sheffield on them. They think we don't know any better. If we believed they were really this weak, we'd attack accordingly, with a more reckless abandon than we would against someone more powerful."

Mina blinked, remembering the tactical info that Lita had fed them before… Lita!

"Permission to go find Commander Kino, sir?" she asked quickly, everything else forgotten for the moment. To her surprise, Goku shook his head in reply.

"Denied, Commander. I need you where you are."

"But…" Mina began to protest.

"Relax, Counselor," Goku continued. "I felt Lita's power signature the moment she beamed aboard. She's just doing her job, that's all."

Mina digested this, reminding herself that Goku had the ability to feel other people's power levels around him. She interpreted his reply quickly to mean that Lita was busy dealing with the intruders along with the rest of the on-board security and marines, and began to calm her nerves as best she could.

"Aye," she answered.

The Wildstar shook again.

"Evasive pattern Janeway Delta," Goku ordered.

"Which one's_THAT_??!"

* * *

Steven screeched to a dead halt the instant he felt the first rumble. Kuno had to put the brakes on so fast, he almost kissed the back of Steven's head. Before the Blue Thunder could say anything about his superior's abrupt halt, however, Steven already had a finger up, his head turning in a few different directions. 

"Did you hear that?" He asked Kuno. The Kendoist shook his head briefly before responding.

"It sounds like the Wildstar has fallen under enemy fire," Kuno responded.

Steven rolled his eyes, realizing more with each passing moment the incredible idiocy of his hired help.

"I know that, you moron," he snapped back. "But the shudder was too soft… The Wildstar's shields are up."

Kuno gasped.

"But how is that possible, noble Stoltz?" he questioned. "You severed all connections to the main computer in the auxiliary control room. The back-ups were compromised. The Wildstar should be completely immobilized!"

Steven shook his head, attempting to figure the situation out. Somehow, in a manner that he hadn't expected, the Commander had managed to get the ship's shields back up. Judging from the new sounds he could hear, he was also quite certain that the Wildstar was at impulse speeds, engaged in a firefight and evasive maneuvers. None of these things should have been possible.

Finally, he gave up all hope of figuring out _how_ they had accomplished it, and settled on a final course of action.

"I don't care how they did it," Steven growled. "I know one good way to make sure they stop!!"

Kuno looked down at him.

"What is that, good sir?"

"We make our way to engineering and blow the warp core!"

Kuno's face fell ashen. He couldn't believe that the man he had so quickly come to respect could even consider throwing away over two thousand lives so easily, as if they were all meaningless. He had wanted to be the undoing of Ranma Saotome, yes, but not at the cost of other people's lives! At least battling against the Leviathan gave them a chance at survival by surrender. This was mass murder!

"WHAT?!!" Kuno hollered. "I cannot allow you to commit this travesty of justice!! How can you throw away over two thousand lives so carelessly!? It is simply unthinkable! I will not allow it!!"

Steven growled again. Turning to face Kuno, he brought his arm around in one swift motion. Placing his palm against Kuno's chest, he let loose a Ki blast, throwing Kuno back to the other end of the hall. The Blue Thunder was quickly reduced to an unconscious heap.

"Fine then," Steven chuckled. "You're fired!"

* * *

Rebecca was screaming into her communicator. 

"You wanna tell me why the hell you're shooting at this ship while we're still on it?!?"

Will's voice came across the com line next.

"Listen, commander," he explained. "The Wildstar has raised her shields and begun to fight back. We have no idea how they did it, but she's defending herself. We have no choice but to attack them."

"Fucking dandy," Rebecca snorted in disgust. "So what do you want us to do over here?"

"Get to their bridge, wherever it is, and take control of the ship."

"Wherever it is?" Rebecca frowned.

"According to our sensors," Riker's voice stepped in. "There's no one on the Wildstar's main bridge. We don't know where they're controlling the ship from, since multiple life forms are scattered throughout the rest of the ship in general."

"Shit," she grumbled. "Well… can I at least ditch the 'stun' idea now?"

The reply over the com was a mixture of a 'Yes!' from Will and a 'No!' from House. Rebecca rolled her eyes as the two of them began to duke it out over the com line. After just a few short seconds of this, she cleared her throat loudly.

"Screw this white noise, I'm setting our weapons to kill! Commander Giesbrecht out!"

As the line was severed, there was a mixture of 'Atta girl!' from Will and 'You can't do that!' from House.

"I can do whatever I damned well please," she murmured to herself. Then she looked up at her men. "Set weapons to kill, boys."

"_Xandir to Giesbrecht!! Lita has - :bzzzzt_:"

Rebecca stopped dead in her tracks. For the first time since she came aboard, her blood pumped heavy and loud in her ears. Her eyes went wide, and she felt the adrenaline rush of fear pulsing through her veins. In her mind, she pictured her deputy, slain at the hands of someone that she had quickly learned to fear the very first time they had encountered each other. She could still remember that woman holding a ball of lightning in the palm of her bare hand as it surged and cracked with raw power.

_Lita…_

She immediately reached for her visor and slammed it down over her eyes.

"Night Vision!!" She hollered, activating the visor. Her troops followed her example in quick succession. Rebecca knew of the SI officer's abilities, and knew the only other name she went by. The name that she had continued to use from the first day she had tendered application to Starfleet Intelligence.

_You are NOT gonna catch ME with my pants down… Jupiter._

"Move out!"

* * *

"Casualty reports coming in from decks five, eleven and seventeen!" Mina reported. 

"Mousse, report!" Goku instructed.

"Forward shields down to 81, Commander. All other sectors still at full power. We're a long ways from being done this fight, sir!"

Goku nodded once. "Keep them that way, please."

"I'll do my best, sir." Mousse replied evenly.

"Commander," Doctor McCoy scooted his way through the scattered panels and wiring to reach Goku.

"Doc?"

"I have wounded arriving, but I'm fast going to run out of room in here while you guys are taking up space. What do you want me to do?"

Goku thought for a minute, considering in his head the nearest location from sickbay that could be of any use to them. He scoured the corridors in his mind, remembering in almost perfect detail the layout of the Wildstar's decks. Finally, he gave a little smile, and put a hand on McCoy's shoulder.

"Relax, Bones," he began. "Move some staff over to holodeck two. Use whatever transporter power you need to beam over whatever materials you need, it's all on-line in case of emergency. Plus the holodeck will allow you to create an actual facility to treat people in. I'll see to it that Vegeta shunts power to that holodeck right away!"

With a nod before Goku had even finished his last sentence, McCoy ran off to carry out his instructions.

"Logan to bridge."

Goku looked to the side. "Go ahead, Lieutenant."

"Can you locate Ace, Commander? No one knows where he is!"

Goku looked over to Shampoo and gave a single nod. Shampoo nodded back and set to work checking the internal sensors. After a few moments, she looked back at Goku in defeat.

"Shampoo sorry. Internal sensors still no work right. Power is no directed to them in most areas. Is directed to essential systems only."

Goku looked back to the side.

"That's a no go, Logan. Internal sensors weren't activated in all areas of the ship. We still have blind spots."

"So _that's_ why the lights are all out," Logan mused over the com link. "Alright, thank you, sir."

"Not a problem."

The deck shuddered beneath them again.

"Mousse!" Goku growled. "I'm getting tired of playing paintball. Switch to triphasic torpedoes and start doing something to their shields!"

Mousse gained a wicked grin. "No problem!!"

* * *

Security guard Lyle stood in the corridor junction between the main access hall and the turn off to main engineering. He had been standing guard without incident for almost a whole hour; since being posted there, as a matter of fact. He had expected to see at least a little bit of excitement, but so far, nothing had come his way. 

Just as he was about to give up hope, a figure came around the corner in front of him. He quickly raised his search light to identify it.

"At ease, Ensign," Steven said casually, walking towards the guard.

"Commander Stoltz," Lyle acknowledged evenly. "What is your destination, sir?"

At that, Steven quickly raised his phaser and shot Lyle in the chest. Lyle fell to the deck and lay still.

"None of your damned business," he grumbled down to the heap. Then, looking down the corridor in the direction of main engineering, he leapt over Lyle and picked up the pace.

From the floor, Lyle rolled onto his back with a groan. With great effort, he brought an arm up and barely managed to push his com badge.

"Lyle… to bridge… Ace… heading for… engi…nee…ring…" his head fell to the side as his eyes drifted shut.

* * *

Goku looked to the side once more. 

"Ensign?" He turned and moved to Mousse's station. "Ensign Lyle's position on your security grid?"

Mousse checked his readout.

"Lyle is positioned at junction 13 gamma."

Goku thought for a moment, then nodded at Mousse, who activated the com.

"Attention all decks, this is Commander Mousse. Find and arrest Commander Steven Stoltz. He is to be considered armed and dangerous, heading for main engineering from junction 13 gamma with malicious intent. Shoot first, ask questions later!"

* * *

Vegeta looked up from his terminal at Mousse's transmission. His mind quickly set to work, and he began to look around the room frantically. Finally, his eyes settled on the obvious, and nearly doubled in size. As he glared at the warp core, he remembered the primary computer failure that had occurred where the back-ups had not activated. Running over two terminals, he pressed a few buttons. 

"Computer, show me auxiliary control floating nano-camera. Time index… 1417!"

The computer beeped a couple of times, and then an image flashed to life. Vegeta watched in shock as the image he had just activated began playback at the instant the Control Room's on duty officer hit the deck. He continued to watch as Commander Stoltz came into view, placed his hand on the panel, and took in a breath of air when the panel blew out under Steven's hand.

"He's a Chi adept…" Vegeta mused. So Commander Stoltz had caused the blackout. Presumably in order to allow the Leviathan to catch them. This made Steven a Section 31 operative, which also meant accomplishing his goal by whatever means necessary under Section 31 of the Federation charter. He looked back at what his eyes had fallen on before, watching as the warp reactor pulsed with a mystical beauty. He snarled, throwing himself away from the console.

"Evacuate Engineering!!! Everybody out!! Let's Move! Let's Go!!!"

He watched as his team began to pour out the exits, activating his com badge as he moved towards the warp core himself.

"Vegeta to Bridge. Steven is a section 31 operative. He is also a Chi adept, and the one responsible for our computer core failure. I have reason to believe his target is the warp core. I have evacuated Engineering, save for myself."

"What do you intend to do, Commander?" Goku's voice wavered back over the com.

Vegeta snarled as he took position in front of the Core and turned to face the main doors.

"Kill him, Kakarot."

* * *

"How long until we're in range?" Ranma asked again, his patience long since gone after hearing Grissom explain the situation to him. Grissom's helm officer checked his readout again, the ship shuddering beneath all of their feet from exertion. 

"Ten more minutes, sir."

"Come on…" Ranma coaxed the ship quietly. Grissom eyed Ranma from his chair, understanding the Captain's concern completely. Anyone who fell under the long arm of Section 31 stood an excellent chance of never being heard from again. The Wildstar, no matter how powerful, was no exception.

"Helm, increase speed to warp twelve," Grissom instructed. His helm officer gasped. They were already cruising at 11.7, and the Sheffield was threatening to come apart at the seams as it was. It wasn't like they had a warp 15 field to coast on this time. They were getting the full frontal assault of their speed.

"Captain, that's all she's rated for!"

Grissom nodded once.

"I know that, lieutenant. Warp twelve, please."

* * *

The doors of Main Engineering coasted open, and Steven came jogging through them. The sight before him, however, brought him to a grinding halt. Main Engineering was deserted, with most of her control panels locked out or dark. In the center of the room, the warp reactor operated in low power mode, a sickly green color pulsing from both top and bottom to meet at the reaction chamber in place of its standard red and blue. The plasma coolant tanks on either side of the warp core were glowing a dim, smoky green; the foggy vapors within moving about in a ghostly fashion. There, standing just in front of it all, with his arms crossed, was the one man he was hoping he wouldn't have to tangle with. The one reason he was hoping to still have the element of surprise when he came thundering into engineering. The one reason he had cursed to himself when he heard Mousse's ship-wide transmission just moments before. 

Commander Vegeta grinned self-righteously, raising his chin a little as he regarded Commander Stoltz.

Steven quickly got into a defensive posture and began to power up.

"Vegeta," he muttered.

"Commander Stoltz," Vegeta droned out. He uncrossed his arms and took a single step forward. "Now what brings you to my den, Commander? You know I'm far too busy to be giving any tours at the moment!"

Steven scowled, not enjoying Vegeta's games in the slightest.

"You know full well why I'm here, Commander."

Vegeta chuckled darkly, getting down into an attack position as he nodded an affirmative. The Wildstar shook, feeling like an earthquake was happening. The instant the shaking began, Steven knew just what to expect, and stepped up his own charge rate. Before him, Vegeta let out a holler. For the first time in his life, Steven bore witness to the transformation he'd only ever heard of, but admired in ways no one else could ever possibly understand. He watched in fascination as Vegeta's hair bleached in a sweeping motion from root to tip, the energy field that suddenly exploded into being around him glowing hot gold. He watched Vegeta's muscle mass increase by at least thirty percent in a heartbeat.

For the first time in his life, Steven gulped. He imagined all his personal doubts about his own abilities sliding down his throat. Scowling a little lower, Steven prepared to give his own rendition of the transformation.

With a shout of rage, Steven's energy exploded. His hair, from root to tip, swept upward in a shimmering deep maroon color, the energy field surrounding him taking on the same color as it jumped in intensity. Steven grinned a little as his own muscle mass increased as well.

A sparkle that the commander couldn't readily identify embedded itself in Vegeta's eyes, the grin on the Super Saiyan growing just a little bit bigger.

"Perfect," Vegeta chuckled low. "I'm sure I'm going to enjoy this immensely."

Steven grinned now as well. "As will I, Commander."

Vegeta knew this was going to be no cake walk. Steven had made it all too obvious after exercising his own version of a power transformation that he was not only a Chi adept, but a damned good one, to boot. But this didn't faze Vegeta in the slightest. His own confidence in his abilities was complete and unwavering. He would bring Steven down. It was only a matter of time. With a tone that set the playing field, Vegeta lowered his body a bit more, deepening his stance and preparing himself for what lay ahead.

"The warp core is behind be," he snarled almost playfully as his brow furrowed even deeper, combining with his perma-grin to make him seem all the more menacing.

"If you think you can reach it!"

* * *

A/N: 

I feel I need to explain Steven a little bit here, as was brought to my attention by Weebee. Steven Stoltz is an enigma. Even to me. I had to rev up the suspense of the fight between him and Vegeta, and I knew there was absolutely no way that I could do that if he did nothing to try and match the super saiyan for power. Everyone would just read it and go 'Ho hum Vegeta's gonna win, yeah yeah bla bla', and i really didn't want that. His abilities are going to be explained in the next chapter, though. But don't be too worried. He doesn't really get any stronger than he is right now. Side Note: Steven is Section 31's second in command. Of the ENTIRE outfit. He's been trained to be a veritable James Bond in stealth and cunning.

Next up: Vegeta and Steven duke it out heavy. Can Vegeta bring him down without managing to damage the reactor in the process? Also, the Sheffield arrives on the scene, carrying an all too anxious Captain Ranma and Commander Akane back to their ship. Can the Wildstar and the Sheffield together take out the Leviathan? And what of the firefights taking place deep in the dark corridors of the Wildstar?

Additional Note: I did NOT expect the story to unforld this way! It's just happening.

Let me know what you think, since your reviews are helping to drive this thing. If it sucked, raised questions... if I should learn how to friekin' type??? Heh, Lemme have it!

MattSaotome


	18. M2 Chapter 8: The Wildstar

Chapter 8

The Wildstar

"Triphasic Torpedoes, captain!" Riker exclaimed. "They've just upped the stakes!"

"Explain to me," Will was barking at Tom now, "exactly how a starship with NO COMPUTER CORE is not only buzzing around us like a hornet, but also SHOOTING BACK?!"

Tom was shaking his head, his fingers flying over his panel in an attempt to discover the answer. He'd learned from experience to be afraid of his captain, especially once he got to pointing a phaser at you!

"I'm trying," Tom hissed. "Their shielding is just too good!"

"OK then, explain THAT to me."

"I don't know how they've managed to pull it off, but their shield output has increased by over a hundred thousand terraquads. We could direct all our scanners at highest resolution to them right now, and our computer would just call it a massive floating spacial distortion!"

The deck plating shook again, causing Will to grab the edge of Riker's console for support.

"So you're telling me that the only way we can get info on them is to get their shields down?"

Riker nodded nervously. "I'm afraid so, Captain."

House snorted. "Yeah, cuz THAT'LL just be a piece of cake!"

"House," Will warned. "Be positive for a change, will ya?!"

"Oh, OK," House sneered sarcastically, faking a good mood. "No problem, Captain, Sir!"

"Dick," Will snorted.

The deck shook again, and Will growled under his breath. They'd been taking pot shots at the Wildstar in an attempt to appear an inferior foe, but the young Commander Goku was swiftly changing his mind about the chosen combat tactics. At the rate they were going, they'd get nowhere, and it was no secret that he didn't feel the most comfortable taking on a ship as close to them in power as the Wildstar most certainly was.

"Tactical, arm all tri-launchers and Type 7 phaser banks."

The replacement lieutenant at the console nodded. "Aye, Captain. Should I charge the Plasma cannons as well?"

Will went silent for a moment as he examined the facts. They had held back on the Wildstar, and were now paying the price for it. He hadn't been given all the details on their target, but was now quite certain that the ship probably held a few surprises of its own. Especially if their engineer was Vegeta, as the personnel reports he'd received stated. Finally, he nodded slowly.

"Affirmative, Lieutenant."

* * *

Serena was looking from left to right rapidly. Through her brain ran a single thought. She knew that, inside Engineering, Vegeta and Steven were engaged in an old fashioned face off. A little voice in her head was telling her that, of the people who were ordered to evacuate engineering, she was the only one that hadn't fled to a secure location. That meant that she was the only one left to stop any intruders that could attempt to storm engineering. A scowl fell across her face, an expression of determination resting over her features. She would not allow that to happen.

"As long as I'm standing," she breathed to herself, "No one's gonna get in there. Don't worry, Commander Vegeta. I'll make sure your fight goes uninterrupted!"

As she took a moment to bask in her own heroism, a group of no less than ten intruding security personnel came around the corner, guns at the level. Their weapons quickly came to bear on her, the head of the group of insurgents stepping forward.

"You!" he pointed at her. "Meatball head! Open that door!"

Serena took a second to allow a surge of panic to run through her, then stomped it to hell and stood a little taller, her hands finding her hips.

"Not on your life, buster," she shot back. "As long as I'm breathing, no one gets through that door!"

The man grinned a little, bringing his phaser rifle back up and pointing it straight at her.

"Well, that can certainly be rectified."

Serena set to work immediately. Grasping the locket that hung from a chain around her neck and was safely tucked under her tunic, she began to power up. She hadn't transformed in a good long while, and since her current opponents were nothing more than your average run of the mill human beings, she saw no need to do so, either. She quickly gathered her chi and poured it into her arms, getting ready to blast the group in front of her.

_I'm so glad Lita taught me how to do this stuff,_ she thought as she completed her preparations.

"I wouldn't recommend shooting that weapon, mister," she intoned, her voice dripping with no small amount of warning.

"And just what're you gonna do to make me lower it, blondie?"

Serena's face twisted into a half-cocked grin as she chuckled for a moment.

"Shoot and I'll show ya." She retorted.

The man straightened his stance, lining up his sight with Serena's head with a shrug.

"My pleasure."

At that instant, the deck suddenly shook, the sound of an explosion resonating through the doors to main engineering, signalling the start of the fight inside. The man lost his aim, instantly taking to keeping himself on his feet as the rest of his group did the same. Serena was completely unprepared for the shaking deck plates, and was quickly thrown off her feet with a massively operatic wail. Her hands shot forwards to break her fall before she thought about what she was doing. In a flash, she realized that she should have rolled it out instead. As her hands made contact with the deck, the power she had been building up shot out of her palms, giving it a full powered assault. A sound akin to a gunshot reverberated off the walls around them, and a wave of raw power pulsed into the plating. It buckled at the braces, and a whole section of the floor, a good ten feet squared, broke free and began to fall to the deck below.

"YAAAAAAHHHHH!!" Serena screamed. Across from her, the security insurgents lost their footing, tumbling down with the deck plating clumsily. A massive thud echoed through the halls of the deck below as the plate, the intruders and Serena safely on top of it, crashed down with all its weight.

The dust began to settle around them, and Serena quickly jumped to a standing position, brushing her tunic off.

"Whew!" she breathed. "I totally meant to do that!"

"Dude!" a new voice said, causing Serena to whip around and face it quickly. What she came eye to eye with was a giant walking turtle!

"AAAAAAHHHHH!!" she screamed again, instantly feeling kind of stupid as she remembered that some of the new Wildcard additions at the starbase had been turtles.

"Righteous moves, Blonde lieutenant!" another voice said.

"Yeah," another one piped up, this voice a little lower and more gruff than the previous ones. "Ya totally squashed the bad guys!"

"The odds of that happening are at least ten thousand and fifty to one! That's incredible!!"

From behind Serena came a chorus of groans and 'my head's as the 'bad guys' that fell with Serena and the deck plate began to come to their senses.

"Heads up, guys," Leonardo warned, slowly removing his sword from its sheath. "Looks like we ain't done yet!"

* * *



Lita looked from left to right down the hallway she intended to enter. Once she was satisfied that it was clear, she entered, moving along the inside of the wall in case anyone should decide to make a sudden appearance.

Xandir's group had been easily dealt with, and she was all too ready for more. She turned her thoughts inward, reflecting on her past relationship with the Leviathan's security deputy. They had hit it off fairly quickly, and she had been certain that they were going to be fast friends. The thing that really threw a bomb into the mix for her was when she found out that he worked for Section 31. It had been a very real shock for her, and she'd quickly cut all ties with him, ignoring his communiqués and avoiding him at every turn. This had rapidly frustrated Xandir, and he soon gave up. She hadn't seen him since that day, taking to ignoring the viewscreen of the Sheffield whenever the Leviathan bridge came up on it.

_I'm sorry it came to this, Xandir,_ she thought to herself. _I can't support what section 31 is doing here. At least you didn't make me have to kill you..._

Still, she had seen that the enemy's rifles were set to kill, and had heard Xandir's and Rebecca's commands to make them that way. It seemed that what had started as a not too friendly game of tag had just upgraded to a kill or be killed battle of survival. Her thoughts came to an end as she approached the turbolift she'd been looking for. The doors whooshed open to greet her, and she quickly entered, relaxing only once the doors had shut firmly behind her.

"Bridge," she said to the computer. A scowl of confusion crept onto her face when the computer beeped an error and answered her.

"Turboshaft 1 has no power above deck 4. Primary power past that point has been severed. Computer core has been compromised."

"Crap!" Lita cursed. The computer beeped again.

"Please re-state command."

"Um..." Lita thought for a second. "Take me to deck 4, then."

The computer chirped compliance, and the turbolift began to move up. Lita began to puzzle on this new information. If there was no power above deck 4, then that meant that the bridge was without power. That made no sense though, since she could still feel the shifts of the inertial dampers working with the movements of the Wildstar at high impulse speeds. The weapon impacts were causing the ship to shake, but the lowered intensity of the shaking meant that the shields were up. With these facts gathered, she came to a conclusion. There must be a backup command center set up somewhere that has power. She had no clue where to begin looking for it, but figured that Deck 4 was as good a place as any to start.

The turbolift slowed to a stop, and the doors whooshed open once more. The sound of weapons fire instantly had Lita out of the lift and against the wall. Her battle training kicked in, and she moved silently against the wall in the direction that the noise of fighting was coming from. She quickly came to an intersection, and peered around the corner she was leaning on. Her eyes grew in size as she saw a medical officer behind an overturned table in front of the holodeck doors with nothing but a hand phaser in his arsenal taking random shots at a group of six men; all of them armed with type 3 phaser rifles. There was no way a metal table would continue to hold off that level of firepower. Without a second thought, she shot around the corner and dove into the fray foot first.

Her foot slammed across the face of the first intruder, twisting his head around so suddenly that his neck snapped under the force of the impact. He crumpled to the ground lifelessly, Lita moving on to the next officer before he'd even completed his fall. A fast leg sweep had three others dropped for the moment she needed to take on the two left standing. She ran up to the first of the two, ducking under phaser fire and tucking into a roll. When she came out of it, she shot one foot out underneath herself, propelling her body upwards rapidly. Her right hand balled into a fist, connecting with his jaw with a satisfying crunch. His head flew back, and he began to fall as well. Her jump sent her flying over the 

head of the second officer, her wrists coming together with palms facing out. As she reached the apex of her leap, her brow furrowed with rapid concentration. Her open palms now pointed directly down over the officer, she gathered Ki rapidly.

"Kameha mei HA!!" she hollered out. A blue blast shot forth from her palms, descending quickly to flatten the officer where he stood. There was a sharp cry of pain, and the man slumped to his knees, falling slowly to the side to connect with the deck plating.

From behind the table, Bones' head slowly appeared. He surveyed the scene before him, his jaw dropping slowly. He'd watched the three officers get back to their feet from the floor, not sure at all how they'd ended up there, and leap at a woman in an SI uniform that hadn't been there before. The thing that really caught him by surprise was the blinding speed with which the woman retaliated. He quickly found himself in a standing position, cheering her on for all he was worth.

"Yes! Get him!! No no no, go for the jugular! YES!! Oh! Perfect!! Hey, that one's favouring his right leg! Right Leg!!"

The remaining three officers fell in short order, and soon Lita was dusting off her hands as she moved towards McCoy.

"You're amazing!" Bones said instantly. "That was spectacular! And to be a Chi adept... Simply astounding!!"

Lita smiled humbly. "Thanks, Doc. Umm... listen, I'm having a little trouble locating the bridge-"

"Say no more," McCoy's hand came up quickly. "I can tell you exactly where to find it!"

* * *

Rebecca's group moved with practiced precision stealthily around the corridors. Night goggles on, they moved through the halls like a well-trained, perfectly synchronous marine squad. As she moved along the inside of the wall, her 'sawed-off' hefted and at the ready, voices began to drift slowly to her ears. They moved in on the corridor intersection, and it became more apparent to her that the voices were both male; One gruff, and one young. It sounded as if they were arguing. She chuckled mentally at the irony of the fact that their petty bickering would ultimately be the end of them... whoever they were. She turned to her group and mixed some hand signals, directing them in her plan of attack as she peered around the corner.

Instantly, she balled up her fist, signalling her men to disregard her previous commands. There, not three yards in front of her, Logan and Scott were engaged in a heated argument.

_Perfect,_ she thought sarcastically. _The first fighters I come across worthy of my time, and it just happens to be the x-men!_

"I don't give a damn any more whether or not you take the god damned thing," Scott was hollering. "Just treat it nice, for fuck sake!"

"Are you saying that I don't know how to ride a fuckin BIKE?!" Logan shouted back at him.

"No," Scott was giving as good as he was getting. "I'm just saying that you're a maniac behind those handle bars!!"

Logan's eyes scrunched up suddenly, and Scott could already see that their argument that they'd just been engaged in had been cast to the wind. Looking down from Logan's eyes, he watched the lupine man's nose twitch a couple of times, and instantly jumped into business mode.

"What is it, dude?" Scott asked. "What do you smell?"

Around the corner, Rebecca clenched her teeth into a silent snarl. She'd completely forgotten that Logan had senses that were considerably sharper than those of most quadrupeds in existence. If he'd smelt them out, then the jig was up. Her mind raced to a conclusion, and she made the only choice that seemed sane to her, regardless of how stupid it sounded at the same time.

"Trouble," Logan answered, his eyes darting over to the corner Rebecca's group was concealed behind. There, peering out from around the corner, a set of beautiful eyes suddenly scowled.

Seeing that she had been found out, Rebecca put her plan into action and dropped her arm fast, signalling her group to go in firing.

"Get Down!!" Logan jumped at Scott, slamming him to the deck as no less than four pulse blasts flew overhead where they had just been standing. The wall at the end of the corridor exploded, showering sparks and bits of debris around. Smoke began to fill the hallway as wall circuits began to smoulder, the shower of sparks finally subsiding.

Logan was back on his feet in a heartbeat. This ended up being to his advantage since he was barely able to avoid the butt end of a phaser rifle swung where his head used to be. With a snarl, he reached out and grabbed the man that had attacked him by the throat. With a mighty heave, the officer flew backwards, impacting the destroyed wall at the end of the corridor. An unknown amount of volts immediately coursed through him, his body shaking and bucking involuntarily before he finally slumped down the wall in a state of complete unconsciousness.

Logan, having been too wrapped up in seeing the fate of his attacker through, was completely caught off guard as another rifle stock connected with the back of his neck. With a sickening snap, he crumpled to the ground, now completely lifeless.

"Logan!" Scott cried out, leaping to his feet and diving into the fray. Without a second's hesitation, he unleashed his visor blasts upon the insurgents, bringing four of them down before most of them had a chance to cry out.

Rebecca growled out loud. So far, the fight was not going in her favour. Without a second thought, she hefted her 'sawed-off' to the level, took aim, and fired. Scott, however, had stepped up the pace at that exact instant, causing the shot to miss him for the most part, the energy blast grazing his side instead.

Scott was completely unprepared for the incredible amount of pain he found himself in. A hand moved quickly to his side, and he fell to his knees, his mouth open in a soundless cry of agony.

Rebecca snickered to herself. So much for the incredible x-men. She was certain that she was in for the fight of her life, but it had all ended up being child's play. She watched with satisfaction as Scott slumped against the wall he was beside, his hand still clutched to his side.

"Like taking candy from a baby," she mused. Shaking her head, she moved forward. There seemed no point in checking the five that had fallen. She was almost certain that they were dead, and even if they weren't, they would do her no good now. Besides, she still had a half a dozen men with her, and saw no reason to worry yet. She hadn't gotten four steps before a familiar gruff voice stopped her in her tracks.

"Just where do you think you're going?"

Rebecca whipped around, her eyes widening in disbelief. Though the information had never been tested to her knowledge, she had been certain that breaking Logan's neck would keep him from ever rising again. Proof to the contrary stood not half a corridor away from her, where Logan was rubbing the back of his neck and twisting it from side to side with a couple of snaps and pops.

"You forgot the lollipop," he growled, a scowl settling into his expression.

"It's not possible," Rebecca breathed, her troops rifles all pointed at Logan. "I broke your fucking neck!!"

A feral grin split Logan's face as he extended his arms out a little on either side of him. His claws leapt forth, Logan giving off a mild grunt at the brief flash of pain this caused him.

"Oh, we ain't finished yet," he promised before leaping at them.

* * *

Vegeta stared evenly at Steven, the two fighter's eyes locked with some primal need for combat that not many other people would understand. Excitement was running rampant through Steven's veins, and Vegeta held his composure even as his insides burned to get on with the show.

"Tell me, Commander Stoltz," Vegeta finally said. "I'm curious. After dealing the decisive blow to the warp core, how do you plan to get off the ship?"

Steven chuckled lightly at the question. Vegeta seemed to be questioning his position as a master tactician. Of course, why not answer him? It's not like Vegeta would be able to stop him, anyways.

"Simple," he grinned, holding his attack posture. "I may not be able to survive in space, but I can certainly hold a protective barrier around myself long enough to be beamed aboard the Leviathan."

Vegeta grunted at his answer. He'd only ever seen one other person handle a barrier strong enough to protect against a warp core magnitude explosion, and that was Gohan... when he was eight years old, to boot! Mind you, no one had known he was on the sidelines to bear witness to Gohan's level of firepower in destroying the Makyo star. That kid had talent, that was for sure. But the talent had been all natural. He seriously questioned Steven's ability to do as he was boasting. Of course, Vegeta himself was capable of performing the feat, but that was not where his train of thought needed to go. Not only would _he _survive the battle, but he fully intended to still have the ship at the end of it, as well. He wondered for an instant if Gohan had kept up on his training, or if the civilian fleetyard he was running had taken that away from him.

"Vegeta," Steven breathed, bringing the super saiyan's attention back to him. "You don't have time to worry about things like how I'm getting off the ship."

Vegeta chuckled now, taking a moment to marvel at Stevens level of cockiness for a man who was facing his certain doom.

"Then, by all means," he crouched low suddenly before propelling himself toward Steven at incredible speed. "ON WITH THE SHOW!!"

Steven barely managed to block the first attack, swinging his arms up in front of his face and producing a Ki shield just in front of himself. Vegeta impacted the shield at full speed, and the fight was on. The instant that Vegeta hit the shield, it shattered with a thunderous boom, and fists began to fly. The power behind their blows was such that Engineering shook hard under their feet.

Steven focused hard, pouring everything he had and more into his fighting. The two were trading back and forth between defence and attack, no connecting blows able to get through the other man's defences. In the back of his mind, Steven marvelled at Vegeta's speed and strength. The technical part of his brain was analyzing his pattern of attack, trying for all he was worth to find a pattern and break it. It quickly became evident to him that Vegeta intended to follow no pattern. His styles shifted rapidly from one form to another, occasionally throwing in a move that Steven had never seen before. He quickly came to realize that there would be no catching the super Saiyan off guard from bad form. He would have to hold out until Vegeta made a mistake. Finally, one of Vegeta's attacks made it through Steven's defences, the engineer's left fist gliding past his arm that he had moved to intercept just a nanosecond too late. It slammed into Steven's jaw with all the force of a freight train behind it. Steven let out a sharp yell, taking three steps back on instinct to avoid getting hit again.

Vegeta straightened his posture a little, observing Steven with curiosity and fascination. As a fighter, Stoltz was ahead of the rest. He seemed to be able to adapt to Vegeta's own moves when he threw them into the mix, and he knew that Steven had been watching him for errors in form or slip ups. He chuckled mentally. The marine would have no such luck against him. Vegeta didn't make mistakes. While he conceded that he had, on occasion, overestimated his own strength, he also settled on the knowledge that this fight wasn't going to be about strength. There would be no energy blasts coming from him today. He couldn't speak for Steven, but he was in no hurry to put holes in the equipment around them. No, this battle would hang on who the fastest and smartest of the two was, and Vegeta felt nothing but confidence that he was the champion of both.

In front of him, Steven ran the back of his hand over his jaw, wiping a little blood away from his cracked lip. He held his hand in front of his face for a moment, surprised to see his own blood there. He 

felt anger beginning to boil up inside him, doing his best to trample it back down and keep it under control. It would do him no good to lose his cool in this situation, though he'd never had anyone be able to strike him before.

"Impressive," he finally muttered. "You're good."

Vegeta laughed out loud now, enjoying the irony of his own thoughts. Yes, he was good, as Steven just stated. Yet he wondered if the marine had any clue that Kakarot was even better. Oh, but wouldn't it be fun to make him sweat about that? All he had to do was mention to Steven that he wasn't even fighting the strongest Saiyan alive, and he was certain that it would spark a new level of fear within the man. He trampled the urge, however, not really wanting to say anything that might make Steven quit the fight. Their first round had been too much fun, and Vegeta was feeling the thrill of fighting someone that was at least close to his level in skill, even if he wasn't quite on par with the Prince himself.

"You have no idea," Vegeta replied. "You fight the Prince of all Saiyans today, boy. Are you certain you're good enough to take me on?"

Steven's mind raced as he scowled at Vegeta. Was he good enough? He'd been training his whole life, and had achieved a considerable level of power. By human standards, he may as well have been God-like. Yet, he couldn't seem to break Vegeta. Mind you, it was still only the first round. His eyes flitted about the room for a second, taking in the surroundings. His thoughts went into overdrive, rapidly addressing and dismissing different plans of attack. He knew that this fight wouldn't be won by the strongest of the two, and was trying to find a way to use that to his advantage when he realized something. If Vegeta was as strong as he seemed to be, then Ki blasts were a walk in the park for the Super Saiyan. He should have been able to let off a blast that would bring the house down, squashing the young marine along the way. Vegeta hadn't fired off a single blast.

An idea flashed across Steven's eyes, and Vegeta crouched a little again. It seemed that Steven was ready to continue.

"Prince or no," he breathed, "I know I don't have to beat you... just outsmart you!"

That said, Steven turned a few degrees and fired a blast at the plasma relay wall. Vegeta's eyes doubled in size, realizing Steven's game in the flash of an instant. Still, he knew that he couldn't let the marine destroy the ship. Whether or not it was a trap, Vegeta knew that he would have to take the pain to save the Wildstar.

"NO YOU DON'T!!" He hollered, barrelling for the wall at top speed. He barely managed to get in front of the blast, and twisted quickly, taking it in the shoulder instead. He grunted hard, the nerves down his arm all set aflame. The blast had been strong enough to make his arm numb. Steven was following right behind it, a roundhouse kick connecting with Vegeta's head full tilt. The Saiyan was forced back against the wall, and Steven leapt forward, slamming fist after fist into the Prince's gut for all he was worth. He had no intention of losing the battle. It was only a matter of time.

* * *

Logan came barrelling towards Rebecca's troops at top speed, a mighty roar sounding past his lips as he raised his claws to strike the closest man. No less than five shots flew at him in response. While three of them missed, the two that hit him did something Rebecca had never seen before: They did absolutely nothing to him. His battle cry went uninterrupted, and his advance did not slow in any way. The group instinctively backed up a little, but Logan was already upon them. With his first swing, he took the end off of the rifle of an officer who barely managed to avoid losing his head instead. Rebecca quickly put some distance between herself and the group, taking aim with her sawed-off and firing shots off, trying to hit Logan without hitting her men. It proved to be a futile effort, however, as the lone fighter demonstrated why he held the name 'Wolverine', his movements wolf-like in speed as well as deadliness. Two more of her officers fell to his claws before she decided on a rather wise plan of action: Run!

Leaving her men to Logan's not-so-tender mercies, she quickly vanished back around the corner and away from the fight that she was almost certain would have ended up being her fate. She shook her head a couple of times as she jogged down the next corridor, her memory flying back to just moments earlier, and the sight of two pulse rifle blasts that were set to kill striking Logan dead center in the chest and doing absolutely nothing. She'd heard of his ability to regenerate, but had no idea exactly how far that ability ran. She could only imagine how viruses and the like probably had no effect on him, and that was even BEFORE witnessing that incredible spectacle not a minute ago. Pulse blasts that were set to kill did one thing and one thing only to accomplish that: Hit the central nervous system with a jolt big enough to short it out. Logan was obviously quite immune to that little hat trick!

As she reached the end of the corridor, she entered the turbolift she found there, turning inside it and simply saying "bridge". Even if it wasn't where it was supposed to be, Rebecca could think of no other place to start looking.

"Turboshaft 1 has no power above deck 4. Primary power past that point has been severed. Computer core has been compromised."

She snorted back at it. She was certain that the computer was smart enough to deny her information she requested, but decided to attempt it anyways, just in case she was wrong on that particular matter.

"Computer, locate current command center," she instructed. She was answered by a short double-negative from the speakers as the reply happened exactly as she predicted.

"You are not authorized to access that information. Security clearances must be created by Commander Tendo or Commander McCoy."

_Smart,_ Rebecca thought. The Wildstar was a military ship in all aspects. She concluded that Ranma must have rigged the security clearances to... wait a second...

"Commander Tendo or Commander McCoy?" she echoed.

"Affirmative," the computer responded. "To obtain clearance from either, please proceed to Sickbay."

The wheels in Rebecca's head turned rapidly as she fit facts together. The Wildstar had been incapacitated when its computer core was dumped. Then, she somehow miraculously recovers and begins shooting back, complete control regained. She knew the captain of the ship was a man named Ranma Saotome, and that all bridge functions that related to internal security needed clearance codes that could be given to you, as an officer, by the captain or his first officer. Yet, right now, the computer seemed to think that these codes could be obtained from the people running sickbay. Why was a Turboshaft seventeen decks down from there responding to verbal commands like it was a part of sickbay?! The answer dawned on her quickly, a grin beginning to split her expression.

_Sickbay IS the ship right now! The 'bridge' must be located there!_

"By all means, let's go see the commanders, then!" she replied, a cheer in her voice that wasn't there before. This was quickly lost when the deck shook harder than it had yet, throwing her back against the turbolift wall hard. She quickly recovered, standing straight again.

"Computer, what's going on?"

"Wildstar is under attack," the reply was simple. Rebecca rolled her eyes.

"No shit, Sherlock," she growled. "Identify weapon type!"

"High yield Plasma discharge."

Her eyes grew twice their size. The Leviathan was obviously having problems keeping the Wildstar under control. She had to pick up the pace, before Will had to resort to destroying them rather than losing control of the situation.

"Computer, proceed to sickbay, maximum track!!"

Two beeps sounded, and Rebecca braced herself on the railing as the lift took off at blinding speeds, heading for what she hoped was the 'bridge'.

* * *

"We're entering range now, Captain!" The urgent voice bellowed. Two heads on the bridge instantly turned to face the helm station, the combined reply a blend of "Slow ta impulse" and "Onscreen" from Ranma and Grissom.

"Um... doing both..." the Lieutenant responded, a smirk lighting his face that passed on to Grissom.

The viewscreen flickered to an image of two ships, locked in obvious combat. Shots were flying back and forth, shields glowing blue almost constantly as the two titans battled. Grissom leaned forward in his chair, a long whistle of awe at the spectacle rising from his tactical officer. Silence greeted the bridge for a few seconds before Ranma and Akane realized exactly what was going on. Taking a step towards the viewscreen, his hand coming to rest on the helm console, Ranma finally broke the silence.

"Hail the Wildstar, Commander."

"Ranma," Akane whispered, as worry grabbed her for the first time. The spectacular light show taking place on the viewscreen making her face the possibility that she was about to lose her new home and friends.

"It's OK, Akane," he reassured her. "Goku knows what he's doing."

Akane only nodded numbly in reply. Though Ranma's words had been a small comfort, it was too small a comfort to stand up to the feeling of dread in the pit of her stomach.

"Captain?" the Commander looked to Grissom, unwilling to follow one of Ranma's orders without her captain's approval, unlike the helm officer. Grissom didn't even hesitate as he nodded back at her.

"You heard the Captain's order, Commander," he replied, Giving Ranma the floor for the moment. With a small swallow for the glare she was receiving from Ranma, the ops officer gave a quick nod and set to work.

"Channel open on a secure frequency, sir."

* * *

**OK... 200 people have read this chapter as of a week after it's posting... and only 1 person has reviewed on it... is there really that little to be said about this latest installment?**

**Review away, Folks! I NEED to hear what you're thinking of the story so far! Am I on the right track? Is there something I haven't thought of? Should I learn how to friekin write?? ALL Authors need to see feedback from their work, or it just isn't worth it any more. I post these stories for the enjoyment of others... Which means if you enjoyed it, I'd love to hear about it! Alternatively, if you DIDN'T enjoy it, I'd love to know why? As long as you don't flame me, I accept constructive criticism with just as much enthusiasm as a positive review!  
**

**Next up: The Leviathan. We'll take a look at how the battle is going on the other side of the fence. Also upcoming, Ranma and Grissom come to the Wildstar's aid, but it appears that the Leviathan also has backup!**

**Matt Saotome**


	19. M2 Chapter 9: Coming Home

Chapter 9

Coming Home

"REPORT," Goku hollered over the rumble.

"They've started using their plasma cannon, sir!" Mousse replied. "I think they're about ready to get serious!"

Goku snarled as he watched the image of the Leviathan as it coasted smoothly between two of Mousse's triphasic torpedos and fired off another round at them. The deck shook again, and Dana began to shake her head at her console.

"No way we can keep them from doing damage with a Plasma Cannon trained on us, Commander," she reported. "I strongly advise we try and keep them from maintaining a weapons lock on us."

"I'm doing my best," Ryouga grunted from the helm console as he rapidly lay in course corrections upon course corrections. "We're kinda going pretty fast, you know!"

"Breathe, pork butt," Dana chided him, winning a glare and a snarl from the helmsman. "Just breathe."

Mina's mind was racing as she tried to form some kind of a helpful plan. A counsellor wasn't really much help in a battle situation, but she was an Operations officer first, and that information was valuable to them. Shampoo was still a little green under the collar when it came to the operations station.

The deck shook again, and she barely registered Goku giving the order to return fire and execute a new evasive pattern. This would be so much easier if their opponent was a little slower. Gravimetric mines were a personal favourite. It was easy enough to rig one of them with a deflector and home in on specific sensor signals and...

"That's it..." Mina breathed.

"What's it, Counsellor?" Goku asked.

"It's a shot in the dark, Commander," she answered, "But I think it'll work! We have probes on board, yes?"

Shampoo raised her head to look at the counsellor now. "Many. Lots different class, too."

"What've you thought up?" Goku regarded her with a hopeful expression.

"Our probes can be configured to search for specific sensor signals," Mina began to explain quickly. "If we can configure them to look for the signal that appears whenever the Leviathan locks a Plasma-based weapon on us, they can serve as sacrificial life savers!"

Dana's face lit up as she realized what Mina was getting at.

"The probes'll be attracted to the sensor lock, and move into the way!"

"Countermeasures..." Goku mused. "I like it!"

"I can whip it up in about ten minutes here, commander," Dana crowed. "How many should I program?"

"All of them," Goku answered her, his straight face proving to the assistant chief engineer that he was quite serious.

"Aye, sir."

"Incoming transmission, secure frequency," Shampoo reported suddenly.

Goku's brow furrowed. "Is it the Leviathan?"

Shampoo checked her readout once more before looking back up at him and shaking her head.

"Not Leviathan," Shampoo replied. "Sheffield. Is Ranma calling!"

Ryouga growled from the helm console.

"Tell him we're busy!" the lost boy snarled.

"As you were, Helmsman!!" Goku snapped at him. A little song seemed to suddenly break out in his mind. Ranma, though he hadn't had much experience with him as a captain yet, was sure to know how to deal with the situation. He had just gotten that vibe from the pig-tailed martial artist.

"Put it up," Goku urged Shampoo. The Amazon complied, hitting a few keys and activating the viewscreen. An image of Ranma popped up, a worried expression on his face.

"This is Captain Saotome on board the Sheffield. Do you read me, Number One?"

* * *

Logan's eyes flashed around the corridor, his breathing finally beginning to calm down. Two of them had gotten away from him. One random officer, and the woman that he had identified as being a chief of security. He cursed himself for his own stupidity, and for getting caught with his pants down.

"You OK, Dude?" Logan asked, picking up Scott as carefully as he could. Scott hissed through gritted teeth at the pain this caused him, but allowed Logan to support him anyways.

"Been better," Scott admitted as they began to make their way down the hall for the holodeck Bones was set up at. "Bad guys got away?"

"Only a couple. That girl in the lightning uniform worries me, but the lackey that ran off was too terrified to think straight. Maybe he'll run into the turtles, or something... You ain't gonna go trying to kick it early on me, are you?"

Scott did his best to chuckle, beginning to cough a little as a result.

"You wish you would be so lucky," he rasped out.

A small grin appeared on Logan's face, and he lifted an eyebrow with an expression of sarcastic admittance.

"Sometimes I am."

Scott just snorted.

"Right.."

* * *

Will watched the viewscreen with an expressionless facade. In front of them, the Wildstar spun round to make another attack run. Once again, the Leviathan let out a barrage of fire from their Plasma cannons, causing the massive dreadnought to veer off. It pleased him to finally see things going his way. If what his tactical officer had told him was true, the Wildstar could only take so much pounding from their plasma weapons before a shield failure occurred, and then Starfleet's new pride and joy would be shut down and fall prey to his boarding parties.

"Captain, I've got another ship entering the sector at Warp 12," Riker reported from his station.

"Identify them," Will replied, his gaze not leaving the viewscreen before him.

Riker pushed a few keys before looking back up at his captain with a confused expression on his face.

"It's... the Sheffield, Captain," he answered. "They're back."

Will's brow furrowed a little. What the hell was Grissom doing here? They weren't asked to help fight the Wildstar. Their orders had been specific; to accompany the Leviathan on her pre-combat cruise to the battlefield, and then to leave. Grissom had no reason to return, and Will was certain that he wasn't here to aid them because they were oh so fond of each other.

"Now entering visual range, sir," Spike reported.

Will gave a single nod in reply. Spike entered a few commands into the helm, and the viewscreen image shifted.

But not much.

Will watched with growing confusion as the Sheffield took up a defensive position near the Wildstar.

"What the fuck is he doing?" Will asked finally, pointing his finger at the image of the Sheffield.

"Captain, his shields are going up," the tactical replacement reported. "And now all his weapons are arming!"

"WHAT THE FUCK IS HE DOING?!" Will repeated, his face turning slightly red from the anger he was suddenly experiencing as he whipped around and took the distance between where he was standing and the Ops console in three strides. With his finger still pointing at the image of the Sheffield his eyes bored into Riker, who was working his console like there was no tomorrow.

"He's ignoring my hails," the commander stated.

"I don't think he's planning on playing nice," House put in his two cents. "Seems to me like Grissom might be having loyalty issues."

Will considered this, turning his head slightly as he tossed House's words over in his mind. The Sheffield had come flying into the sector at high warp, immediately taking up a defensive posture between the Leviathan and the Wildstar. They had proceeded to ignore Riker's repeated hail attempts, choosing instead to raise shields and arm weapons.

"Captain," Riker looked up at him with wide eyes, "Commander House is right. They're hailing the Wildstar on a scrambler code I've never seen before!"

Will couldn't believe his ears. His head turned slowly to the viewscreen again, and he found himself trying to make heads or tails of how this situation had come to pass.

"Grissom's a traitor," he breathed. He found, oddly enough, that he wasn't as disappointed by that aspect as he might have expected with anyone else. After all, that little bastard had questioned and challenged him at every turn thus far. Why should he feel any pity for someone as stubborn and stupid as him?

"Your orders, Captain?" Spike asked.

Will took in a slow breath, letting it out in a sharp exhale before beginning to make his way back to his chair.

"Lock weapons on the Sheffield," he finally ordered. "Get them out from in front of the Wildstar."

Spike nodded once, turning back to his console and laying in a flight pattern. The tactical officer began laying in his attack plan, and the Leviathan was back on the move.

"Grissom wants to play chicken with Section 31," Will mused to House, who was coming up behind his chair.

"Can't honestly say that surprises me one little bit, mon capitan," House chuckled at first before leaning in to Will's left ear. "Just don't forget that Grissom is an expert strategist."

Will nodded at the sound advice.

"Don't worry so much, House," he replied. "I've never been caught picking my nose twice."

* * *

Ranma stepped forward again, both hands moving to hold the railing to the platform in front of the viewscreen.

"This is Captain Saotome on board the Sheffield. Do you read me, number one?"

There was a long pause of silent anticipation before Goku's image appeared on the viewscreen, an expression of obvious relief writ on his face.

"Captain!" Goku practically cheered. "I can't tell you how happy I am to see you!"

Ranma released the breath he didn't realize he'd been holding, the worry falling away.

"I should say the same to you," he replied. "What's your status, Commander?"

Akane's grip on Ranma loosened a little, the worry she'd been feeling up until that point beginning to diminish at the sight of the Wildstar's first officer alive and well. She didn't seem to really acknowledge the fact that she was hanging onto Ranma in front of their entire bridge crew on the view screen, but had she looked in either Shampoo's or Ryouga's direction, she would have seen the eyes of the two digging into herself and Ranma with more ferocity than a phaser rifle set to vaporize.

"We've been pursued by the Leviathan to this point, sir," Goku began to explain. "Once we discovered that they were responsible for the destruction of Deep Space 3, it became pretty clear that they were hunting us. I'm not too sure exactly why, since there's no way that they could have known we'd picked up Kuno. While we were heading for the nebula, Commander Stoltz was able to sabotage our primary computer module. It shorted out and ejected itself as a result. We've been forced to use Sickbay as a command center, since its systems were independent from the rest of the ship. If it weren't for that, Captain, we wouldn't have even been able to defend ourselves against the Leviathan."

Ranma's expression hardened as he digested Goku's report.

"So Steven is a Section 31 operative, then?"

"It appears so," Goku nodded in reply. "He's in engineering right now duking it out with Vegeta in hopes of being able to take out the warp core and escape, destroying the Wildstar. Apparently, he's a Chi adept."

"fuh," Ranma rolled his eyes. "Why ain't I surprised?"

"Commander," Grissom spoke up now. "The Leviathan wasn't chasing you because you picked up Lieutenant Kuno. They were chasing you because you exposed their involvement in the abduction of the CinC."

Ranma's eyes widened. "That's right," he remembered. "Steven was on the bridge when I was tearin' a verbal strip outta the man bug!"

Grissom's eyebrow went up. "Man bug?"

Akane looked back at him. "It's a long story."

Grissom smiled a little. "Well, you can tell me all about it once this is over. Commander," he addressed Goku on the screen again. "The Leviathan has probably determined that I'm in contact with you. If this is the case, I suggest that we get a move on things here. There's no running from them obviously, so we'll have to make a stand."

At this, Goku's smile broadened a little.

"Commander Aino may have come up with a way to bring the cards back to our favour, Captain Grissom. We're currently rigging our entire inventory of probes with sensor scanners that will identify and pursue the unique signature created by the Leviathan's Plasma weapons lock."

"Like hi-tech countermeasures," Grissom mused. "An excellent suggestion. Speaking of Commander Aino, is Commander Kino there?"

Goku shook his head. "She hasn't reached sickbay yet. I detected her power signatures not too long ago. They've been active on and off since then. She's getting closer to sickbay now. I imagine she was a little confused when she couldn't reach the actual bridge."

Grissom nodded. "Very well. Captain, Commander, I suggest we continue to engage the Leviathan. If we can bring her down, Section 31 might just get off our backs for a while. We'll be able to decide what happens next after that."

"Agreed," Ranma nodded. "Commander, can you beam us aboard?"

Goku nodded. "I should be able to, captain. I think we've got our transporter systems running. I'll need your shield frequency, Sheffield."

Grissom motioned to his Ops officer to send the requested information.

"It's being transmitted now, Commander."

With a breath that seemed to show just how much better Ranma was feeling now that he was returning home, he aimed a nod in Goku's direction.

"Beam us home, Number One."

* * *

"Aye, Captain!" Goku replied happily. The transmission ended, and he turned to look around the make-shift bridge, his eyes resting on each person individually. With a long breath, he finally spoke.

"Mr. Jorgensen, what's the status on those countermeasures?"

"Almost ready, Commander," Dana answered, looking up from her display. "Another minute or two."

"Good," Goku nodded. "Mousse, what's the status of the Leviathan?"

"She's starting to move again, Commander," he replied. "Looks like she's locking weapons on to the Sheffield now."

Again Goku nodded. "Understood. Bridge to Transporter Room 3; Lieutenant Carver, we're sending you a shield frequency. Tune your array to match, and lock on to the Captain and the Doctor on board the Sheffield. Beam them to sickbay, please."

"Understood, Commander," the Chief replied over the com. "Loading frequency now... Energizing."

The instant Carver finished speaking, a familiar transporter whine filled Sickbay, and Ranma and Akane appeared standing beside Goku, no longer holding each other. Once the cycle had completed, Ranma stepped forward and encircled Goku in a welcoming hug, giving his first officer a couple of pats on the back before pulling away again.

"It's good ta see you alive, Commander," Ranma said. "I gotta tell ya, the horror stories Grissom told me 'bout the Leviathan had me a little spooked for a bit there."

"Heh, no faith, Captain," Goku chuckled. "We're all fine."

Akane moved away from the two to examine her surroundings. Her mouth dropped a little at the sight of all the fiber-optic cables running in a mess along the floor to connect to the consoles Dana had set up. There were the tools the engineer had used strewn about the deck to mix in with them, and a few of Sickbay's LCARS displays she could see would have to be replaced now that they had been busted open for viewscreen relays and the like.

"What the hell happened to my Sickbay?!" She finally muttered in shock. Dana, hearing this, looked up at Akane with a sad sort of shrug.

"I'm really sorry about the mess, Doc," she said. "I promise I'll have my house cleaner get it all out of your way and fixed as soon as we leave."

Akane eyed Dana with a look of assessment.

"And your house cleaner is..."

"Commander Vegeta," Dana replied, an almost overly happy look on her face.

Akane rolled her eyes at the engineer with a smile before turning back to Goku.

"I'd better go help Doctor McCoy," she stated. "Where is he right now?"

"In Holodeck two," Goku replied immediately. "He has a facility set up there, and all your staff are there with him. We have a site to site transport set up right now, so you should probably beam there instead of risking travel in the corridors."

Akane nodded acknowledgement to Goku before turning to Ranma.

"Ranma," she said, a small amount of a blush appearing on her cheeks. With only a second's hesitation, she leaned up and gave him a quick peck on the cheek.

"For luck," she whispered to him, paying the growling Chinese Amazon no mind. Speaking louder, she called out, "Computer, request site to site transport. Beam me directly to Holodeck 2."

A second later, she disappeared from sickbay in another transporter flurry. Ranma, waiting until the last of her atoms had vanished, turned to face the viewscreen, where the Leviathan was just now beginning to engage the Sheffield. He sucked in a long breath before taking a few steps towards the helm station.

"OK, people," he said in a strong voice. "Let's see if we can't give the Sheffield a hand. Mousse!"

"Aye, Captain," Mousse's voice sounded almost elated to Ranma, and the young captain found himself wondering if his security chief had actually missed him. With a smirk at the thought, he continued.

"Deploy dorsal Triphasic launcher platform and bring the plasma cannon on-line. Whatever weapons are left that ya haven't fired up yet, get 'em goin'."

"No problem," Mousse crowed, setting to work.

"Ryouga, set course 227 mark 4, full impulse power. Bring us right between the Sheffield and the Leviathan."

"On it," came the reply, laced with concentration as Ryouga diligently laid in the course and set the Wildstar on the move once more.

"Shampoo, prepare ta deploy countermeasures. Sets of two at a time."

"Shampoo do," the Amazon growled back to him. For a second, Ranma turned and faced her, but she didn't once look back at him, making a very obvious point of avoiding his gaze. He imagined she was none too pleased by the peck on the cheek he had received from Akane, but found that the thought of her being upset over it actually pleased him.

_Maybe _now_ she'll get a clue!_ Ranma thought to himself.

"Let's get a move on, people!" Ranma ordered. "We're fighting some bad-ass dudes here!"

Beside Ranma, Goku was grinning like mad. He felt so much better now that Ranma had returned to the ship, and had a feeling deep in his gut that everything was going to be OK now.

But that was before the doors to sickbay swooped open, and a female voice rang out around the room.

"Nobody move!"

* * *

The stars still swam for a few seconds longer in front of Vegeta. Though the kick itself had done no damage to the Prince, it sure as hell made his head ring. In an instant, he was aware of the fists being driven into his gut at almost breakneck speeds. With a snarl for not expecting Steven to attack right behind his Chi blast, the engineer raised his left fist, and brought it down on Steven's head with a roar of rage.

At first, Steven was relishing the feel of adrenaline pumping fast through his veins as he ploughed fist after fist into Vegeta's stomach. The next thing he knew, stars covered his vision, and he felt his body collapse under him, barely regaining control in time to break his fall with his arms. His head pounded with new pain, and he quickly had a hand covering the struck section of his cranium. Without another nanosecond's pause, Vegeta had grabbed Steven by the midsection, hauled him a few feet off the ground, and thrown him like a football across the room to smash into the far wall, the bulkhead cracking under his impact with a mighty bang that echoed off the walls of engineering.

Steven slumped from the impact, hitting the deck with a dull thud. Amazingly, the collision hadn't knocked him out, and he hauled his torso up with his arms as an automated gag reflex let loose a spatter of blood from his mouth. Vegeta, still standing at the point where he had originated Steven's flight, straightened up uninjured and grinned.

From the floor a good twenty feet away from the Super Saiyan, Steven proceeded to wipe the blood from his mouth for the second time in just a few moments.

"Ow..." he grunted. He certainly hadn't been expecting the field goal toss. He only allowed himself another second for recovery time before hauling himself back onto his feet and glaring in Vegeta's direction. His eyes seemed to express all of the negative things he wished he could verbalize to Vegeta, but the Prince noted that he held them all inside, choosing to challenge Vegeta further with his stare instead of lowering himself to verbally berating his opponent. Once again, a smile graced Vegeta's expression.

"You're not so bad yourself, Commander," Vegeta finally spoke. "I must admit, your little distraction had me totally off guard. As you can see, however, I am not quite receptive to your treatments. Try that again, and I promise it's going to hurt..."

Steven held eye contact with Vegeta for only another instant before flicking his eyes to the warp core beside him. It sat not fifteen feet to his diagonal left, with Vegeta another ten feet on the other side of it directly ahead of himself. He only spared it a glance for calculation before turning back to Vegeta with a smirk.

"I have a high tolerance for pain," he replied evenly. Suddenly, his left hand shot out in the direction of the warp core, and a shotgun blast of Chi erupted out of his palm. Vegeta's eyes went wide, and before he could try to get in the way, the blast had slammed into the force field surrounding the core.

* * *

Shampoo growled at the intruder from her console. To her frayed nerves, finding an end to the conflict was something she dearly needed to have happen, and fast. Not that she didn't enjoy combat, but now only one thought raged through her mind, and that was leaving the bridge to go kill something in a holodeck exercise, leaving her calm enough to at least rationally take out Akane so that she would only have to scream at Ranma instead of maim him.

Now Rebecca stood with her sawed-off hefted and at the ready, clearly a biological hamper on what Shampoo wanted so badly. With a howl of frustration, Shampoo leapt from her console to tackle the Leviathan's chief of security.

Rebecca, for her part, couldn't miss catching sight of the purple-haired ops officer leaping at her if she'd tried her best to ignore it. She quickly brought her pistol to bare and fired off a single round, nailing Shampoo in her right arm.

With a yelp of pain, Shampoo crumpled to the deck, the shock to her system from the blast immediately causing her to lose consciousness.

"Shampoo!" Mousse hollered, "No!!"

He rushed to her side in an instant, paying no mind to the fact that Rebecca's weapon was trained on him the entire time, even as she looked around the bridge to keep everyone accounted for. As Mousse knelt beside Shampoo and checked her vitals, Rebecca voiced a second warning.

"I said nobody move! What, you don't speak English or something?!"

Ranma's gaze was fixed on the intruder before him. His stare carried with it icy promises of pain and suffering should Rebecca chose to open fire again. The Leviathan's security chief ignored his glare as she looked expectantly at his first officer, awaiting an answer to her seemingly pointless question.

Ranma's eyes suddenly shifted, seeming to shoot past Rebecca for a second before settling on her once again. If Rebecca would have been more concerned with Ranma in particular, she might have noticed this in time to prepare herself for the oncoming attack. As it was, her eyes bulged as she felt her well honed instincts warning her just an instant too late. From behind, she was grabbed by the arm and spun in an outward half circle, a hand suddenly placed on her back shoving her out the door she had just entered to slam into the corridor wall with a yelp of pain.

In the doorway, Commander Kino eyed them all quickly.

"Is everyone OK?"

Her eyes fell on Shampoo's body lying lifeless on the deck.

"Is she..." Lita allowed the sentence to trail, but let out a breath of relief when Mousse looked back at her and shook his head.

"No, she's just unconscious, thank God."

"Commander Kino," Ranma's voice brought her attention around to him. He grinned devilishly for a moment before continuing.

"Welcome aboard. Your timin' couldn't be better." He pointed in the direction of a recovering Rebecca. "Can ya handle her?"

Lita returned the grin now. "Absolutely!"

With that, she turned on her heel and left the bridge, the door shutting firmly behind her as she went to challenge Commander Giesbrecht.

Ranma sighed deeply for a second of contemplation before turning his gaze to Shampoo once more. He stepped over to Mousse, who hadn't yet left her side, and put a hand on his shoulder.

"Mousse," he said softly. "Let me beam her ta Holodeck 2. 'Kane and Bones'll look after her.

At first, his security chief gave no reply, but after a few seconds drifted by, he reluctantly nodded, and rose to resume his post.

"Computer," Ranma called out. "Request site to site transport. Beam Commander Shampoo to Holodeck 2."

The computer let out a few chirps, and Shampoo transported away. Taking another deep sigh, Ranma turned to face the viewscreen, intent on carrying out his original plan, when Mousse called to him from his station.

"Captain, I've got two more ships coming in!"

Goku turned hard to face him, taking a couple of steps in his direction.

"Identify them," he ordered.

Mousse fought with his console for a moment before finally giving it up and looking back at Goku in defeat.

"I can't," he replied. "Our sensors just bounce right back off. I can give you a visual of them now, but that's it."

Ranma nodded once at Goku, who responded to Mousse's offer.

"On screen then."

* * *

**AN: There is only one chapter left to this story before it's conclusion, so it's coming to a close at last. I'd like to thank those of you who have read this story faithfully to this point, throughout the long delays between updates and all the craziness my life has thrown at me since I began writing it. Your reviews were welcomed warmly, and your praise and even criticism greatly appreciated!**

**Next up: We find out who the Leviathan's backup is, but how much good can it do against what Ranma's got up his sleeve? And if Ranma's plans aren't enough, who'll come to the aid of the Wildstar and Sheffield? Find out in Chapter 10: The Final Showdowns, The last installment before the epilogue!**


	20. M2 Chapter 10: See What a Tangled Web

**WILDSTAR**

**By Matt Saotome**

Disclaimer: I make $12 an hour to live my life somewhat comfortably. If I owned Ranma ½, Dragonball Z, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, X-Men, Sailor Moon, CSI, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, House or any of the herein otherwise interweaved mess of shows, I would most certainly be living extremely comfortably somewhere in Japan in a quite unrepressed carefree manner. So, seeing as how I'm not doing that last part… I guess I don't own them, do I?

Note: This is the beginning of the end. What you thought you knew throughout the total duration of this story will now be tested, and all will be made clear. Pffft! If I have any sanity left after the end of this, it will be a MIRACLE!

On With Ze Shew!

* * *

Mission 2 Chapter 10

"See What a Tangled Web We Weave"

Seven different control junctions exploded sequentially behind Vegeta, who had raised his arm to shield his eyes from the near blinding light just ahead of him. He could only thank his lucky stars for giving him a second shot at the Human-Super-Saiyan wannabe before deciding that the Wildstar needed to be blown sky high. No sooner than the last circuit in the set exploded, the blast dissipated to nothingness, and the shield around the core fizzled out of being, leaving only the integrity field. This would have been all there was around the core to begin with were it not for the past experience of the Wildstar's chief engineer, who lowered his arm as his expression hardened. Commander Stoltz obviously was not picky whether or not he completed his duel with Vegeta before attempting to destroy the Wildstar. This meant no more games. If Steven would not desist, Vegeta would have no choice but to exterminate him. He told himself that it would be for the best, even though a part of him screamed that it would be a shame to eliminate the first true promising warrior that the human race produced whose blood was not tainted by that of another race, if such was not, indeed, the case.

Steven, for his part, stood staring at the untouched warp core with wide eyes. His heavy breathing betrayed the unnatural amount of energy he had expended to create the blast in the first place. He was kicking himself mentally. Over and over again, he tried to sort out how he could have not considered this outcome. Vegeta was, after all, a Super Saiyan, and would therefore be prepared for anything he had experienced prior. That list, somewhere down the line, obviously included someone powerful picking a fight with him in an engine room.

"That," Vegeta growled as he stepped slowly towards Steven, "will cost you dearly."

_Stupid, stupid, stupid,_ Steven mentally crucified himself. _Now I'm all out of juice, and Vegeta's just getting warmed up! How could I have been so foolish?!_

"Because now, you see, you've become a threat to the entire ship, not just my engine room; And I have only one way of dealing with threats." Vegeta finished. He stopped walking as he completed speaking, turning a shoulder slightly in Steven's direction to strike an intimidating pose. A few seconds ticked by in silence before Vegeta suddenly fizzled out. The instant Steven's eyes registered this, his insides abruptly felt like they would explode. Vegeta had appeared in front of him, and was laying a brutal beating on the Commander. He had no intention of relenting until the marine lay dead at his feet.

Steven's head began to spin as his adrenaline went mad to try and save his life, though he could do nothing about it since Vegeta was moving much too fast now. He could feel the sharp, stinging pain of every point of impact before he finally felt Vegeta's hands close around either side of his head. He prepared himself, as best a man could, for his neck to be broken and death to take him.

"It's a pity, really," Vegeta spoke in his ear. "So much potential… wasted."

He tensed to complete the act.

_Vegeta, Stop! _ Goku's voice rang through his mind, the surprise of it happening bringing Vegeta to a grinding halt. In his hands, Steven succumbed to unconsciousness and went limp.

"Why should I?" Vegeta asked out loud. "He's a traitor and a threat. Given the chance again, he just might reduce this ship to dust!"

_He can't do that right now,_ Goku reasoned with him. _And you know as well as I that without a sensu bean, it will take him over a day to recover from his power drain._

Vegeta growled, knowing Goku was correct. He released his hold on Steven's head, and the marine collapsed to the ground at his feet. He gave a humorless smirk; Not dead, but it would have to do.

_Thank you, Vegeta,_ Goku sounded much calmer.

"I seriously don't know why I do these things for you, Kakarot," Vegeta grumbled, grabbing the back collar of Steven's shirt and dragging him away from the warp core towards the exit. The traitor was the medical staff's to deal with now. Besides, plowing his way to 'Sickbay' was sure to make him feel better. He tapped his com badge.

"This is Commander Vegeta to all evacuated engineering personnel. Resume your posts. I repeat, man engineering immediately, and then GET BACK TO WORK!"

* * *

The holodeck was a bustle of noise and activity, filled with doctors, nurses and wounded alike, yet coming up short in the necessary staff department. There was a great deal of noise coming from the officers that were not critically wounded, compounded upon by the beeps and sweeps of equipment and the shouts of the medical personnel trying to make their needs known over the barely controlled chaos.

"He'll live," Akane stated hurriedly, folding up her tricorder and moving on to the next patient. She'd been on the move since the instant she had beamed into 'Sickbay', a medical tricorder being shoved into her hands by an obviously overrun Dr. McCoy, who barely had time to welcome her back before running off to see to more patients.

She was just passing in front of the doors when they swept open to reveal Logan supporting Scott walking into the holodeck. Scott was holding his side where an exacerbated injury was gradually bleeding out. Already on automatic, Akane strode to Scott's other side and aided Logan in carrying him to the nearest bio bed. From the erratic movement of Scott's head on his shoulders, it was obvious that the man was about to lose consciousness.

"What happened," Akane asked as she and Logan laid Scott back on the bed. She immediately opened her tricorder and began to analyze the wounded marine as Logan did his best to explain.

"We were ambushed. One of the insurgents had a modified weapon of some kind. It looked like an old earth shotgun sawed off at the barrel, but it fired some kind of concentrated plasma bolt. One eye here was grazed in the side by one."

"The wound itself isn't deep, but the residual energy from the blast appears to be hindering coagulation. And the charring around the wound is like nothing I've ever seen before."

Logan eyed Akane with a little trepidation. "It was a pretty bad-ass gun, like I said."

"No kidding," Akane replied. Closing her tricorder, she turned to the nearest help and sidetracked her.

"Nurse Ogawa, prep this man for dermal reconstruction immediately."

Ogawa obediently altered course and moved to the side of Scott's bed, relieving Akane to move on and continue her work. As a parting, Logan looked over at the nurse, raising one finger to point at her as he spoke.

"I wanna know the second he's recovered," he instructed, then turned and left the holodeck the way he had come.

No sooner than the doors had swept shut behind Logan, a transporter whine filled the air. Akane paid it little mind, injured personnel beaming in being a regular occurrence during this particular battle. She continued in the direction she was heading for another second before her name was hollered out over the noise.

Using her ears as a point of reference, she altered course, moving quickly around people and equipment before reaching the place where the transport had occurred. Who she saw laying on the biobed with an obvious wound in her shoulder slowly bleeding out caused her to gasp, a hand moving quickly to cover her mouth.

"Shampoo…"

_Oh My God, they've reached the bridge,_ Akane suddenly thought, but she quickly dismissed this from her mind. Shampoo could have just as easily been sent to aid the security forces on the upper decks. Besides, it was easy enough to determine whether or not the 'bridge' had been taken over.

"Computer, engage medical surveillance. Location: Sickbay. Clearance: Tendo 141 Delta."

The computer chirped, and mid-air just above her shimmered as a holographic image was set into place. She could clearly see that the makeshift bridge was still under the control of Ranma and Goku. Only an instant was wasted on this confirmation before Akane shook her head to clear it and called for the surveillance to be deactivated. She opened her tricorder, and pulled the sensor free from its housing, hovering just above Shampoo with it as she moved it back and forth. The results of her scan made her brow furrow.

"Her wound is almost identical to the one Scott has, preventing coagulation and with the same charring, but she seems to have taken a direct hit instead of being gra… What the - !!"

The biobed's tracking of Shampoo's vitals suddenly flatlined, a constant whine coming from the console instead of the steady beeps caused by a heart that was still beating. Akane's eyes went wide. Shampoo's heart was obviously no longer doing this. She called for help.

"Doctor McCoy, I Need You!"

Bones was quickly at the biobed. He took a look at the console before pushing a switch on the side of it.

"What happened?" he asked as four slender mechanical arms at each corner of the bed rose up to a position just above the height of Shampoo's horizontal body, a holographic control surface readout appearing between them that hovered mere millimeters above the Amazon's torso.

"She's been hit with some kind of modified plasma weapon." Akane hurriedly explained. "At first glance, everything was the same as the wound on Scott, with the exception that Shampoo appears to have taken a direct hit. Then I detected a sudden Pulmonary Embolism, and she flatlined. Cause unknown."

McCoy gave a single nod, understanding now why Akane had called for help. If she was unable to determine why Shampoo was dying, then two minds working on the problem were always a better idea than one. He poured over the surgical readout's more sophisticated scan results, hoping to find something that could help them, and in a hurry. With a grunt, he realized that there was nothing of the sort to be found.

"The readout is inconclusive," he scowled. "We have no choice but to try and revive her regardless. Maybe then whatever's causing this will rear its head."

"Prep for defib!" Akane ordered with a sharp nod.

The two of them got into the necessary positions at the readout, Akane watching the charge rate while McCoy reached out with both hands and pushed two small white circles in the holographic interface down until they made contact with Shampoo, one just above her left breast and the other below it and slightly to one side. He gave a little more of a push, and the circles slipped under Shampoo's tunic and out of sight.

"Sub-dermal Defibrillator Pads applied," he informed Akane, looking back at her with a professional gaze mixed with pity for the conflicting emotions that he knew she must be experiencing right now.

For Akane, the moment seemed to happen in slow motion, every detail imprinting itself on her mind. Shampoo had been the cause of much trouble in hers and Ranma's relationship. It was no secret that her feelings towards the Amazon and vice versa weren't very friendly. As the charge up completed, a two second process that seemed to drag on for an eternity, Akane steeled her resolve as a healer, and a look of sheer determination crossed her face.

Shampoo would NOT die.

"CLEAR!"

* * *

The ship under Grissom's feet shook violently again and he grit his teeth in another wave of sympathy for the damage to his pride and joy. The Sheffield was no Cutter Class, making it quite outgunned were it not for the Wildstar's presence in this particular battle. Grissom knew there was only so much pounding his ship could take before it came apart at the seams.

"Science, how long until those probes are reconfigured?!" he asked quickly. They desperately needed an edge in this battle, and being able to confuse the Leviathan's plasma weapons lock would certainly be beneficial.

"They'll be on-line within seconds, Captain," came the preoccupied response.

"Sir, two more ships are entering the sector," the tactical officer reported in a rush. Grissom's head shot around to face him.

"Identify them," he instructed. The lieutenant set to work to do exactly that, but after a few frustrating seconds he slapped his hands on his console and looked back up with an expression of surrender.

"I can't," he breathed. Grissom paused for a second before turning his head back around to face the viewscreen.

"Not good."

* * *

As the doors closed behind Lita, she scowled across the corridor to her opponent. She wasn't sure why, but instinct told her that this fight wasn't going to be a walk in the park. Her opponent appeared to be human, but she knew all too well how deceiving looks could be.

Across from Lita, Rebecca's brow furrowed as she tried to damp down the nervous feeling in the pit of her stomach. She knew that Lita had taken out Xandir's team with ease, determinable by the fact that Lita had not a scratch on her. But she also knew that she herself had gone up against teams of a dozen or more in the past, and come out the other side ready for more. With this last thought at the front of her mind, she leapt at Lita with deadly intent, going straight on the offensive.

Lita's left eyebrow twitched, and she jumped forward to meet Rebecca head on. Fists began to fly, and their battle was initiated.

Lita held the benefit of years of hand to hand combat training and experience in Starfleet intelligence, and her 'civilian' life prior, also. She defended perfectly against Rebecca's initial attacks, managing to deal out a few swings of her own. Rebecca was effectively able, in turn, to block these as well.

Their first round lasted only seconds before they burst apart, returning to opposite sides of the corridor. Their primary assessment of each other's skill level was complete, and each of them prepared to bring the next round up a few notches.

The deck shook hard underneath them, distracting Lita for an instant only, but it was certainly long enough. Rebecca, much more accustomed to fighting on a ship under fire, caught the sudden hole in the other woman's defense and leapt at her, hammering her fist into Lita's stomach.

Lita barely managed to catch the blow in time to ride it, only losing about half the air in her lungs instead of all of it. She immediately grabbed the offending fist in her hand as it withdrew and pulled hard towards herself, swinging the elbow of her other arm up to meet Rebecca's face as it came into range.

Rebecca reeled from the attack, throwing herself away from Lita again, who gathered her energy fast and let off a sudden burst of her lightning, intent on bringing the fight to a very rapid close.

The result, however, was far from what she had expected as her lightning made a sickeningly symmetrical curve away from the Leviathan's chief of security.

"What the fuck?!" Lita growled under her breath. Across from her, Rebecca smirked. She brought a hand down to her utility belt, where she pointed to a device no bigger than a buckle that had lights flashing across its surface in sweeps. Once she was sure that Lita had seen and understood the implications behind the gadget, she reached behind her back and unclipped a small box that was no more than one inch cubed. She fixed the box to her right wrist, giving off a little hiss of brief pain as it obviously attached itself in place on her skin. Then, with an almost predatory grin, she fixed her eyes back on Lita.

"Why don't you try that again?" she smirked.

Lita looked hard at the device on her opponent's belt, assessing it to be some kind of polarized shield generator. Her lightning, being electrical and therefore polarized itself, would only continue to be repelled away from the shield like two magnetic positives facing each other. When she brought her gaze up to the box on Rebecca's wrist, her eyes widened slightly. The cube gave off a chirp, and then suddenly unfolded. Metal jacketing formed itself around the security chief's hand to make a perfect fitting glove, which quickly started to radiate energy. Lita barely had time to jump to the side before Rebecca unleashed an energy attack of her own. From that moment on, the Sheffield's first officer was on the defensive.

Rebecca fought with practiced precision, dealing out attacks with speed and accuracy against Lita, who seemed to be able to defend herself from the attacks just fine, but not return any of her own. Point of fact, the commander was too wrapped up in internal analysis of her opponent to deal out any attacks. Every move that Rebecca made, Lita observed and dissected, preferring to learn as much of Rebecca's fighting style as she could before deciding how to react; and react she most certainly would. With her personal shield in place, energy attacks were a moot point against Rebecca. So Lita was going to make damn sure that, when she did finally retaliate, it would hurt like hell!

Rebecca shot three fists in succession at Lita, all of which were blocked before connecting with her head, shoulder and solar plexus. A high-aimed kick met Lita's forearm instead, causing Rebecca to wind back and let a glowing red orb the size of a basketball go from her ki-glove. Lita swept her arms to the side, and the blast crashed into her lightning shield, their combined energies cancelling each other out.

The combatants stepped back from each other once more, Rebecca's breathing even, but accelerated. Lita's brow slowly let loose a single bead of sweat that ran down her face to fall from her jawline. It was at that moment that something interesting caught her eye. Behind Rebecca there was an air duct, a silent breeze emanating from it. The thing that got Lita's attention so swiftly was that Rebecca's hair was _moving_. Her eyes widened ever so slightly as an idea embedded itself in her brain. Grinning, she proceeded to act on it.

"You know, if you were any slower, I just might fall asleep dodging," she smirked at Rebecca.

The eyes of the Leviathan's chief of security widened at first in mild disbelief that her opponent was resorting to such foolishness, then narrowed further than they had yet as she registered exactly what had been said.

"What did you say to me??" she barked, causing the grin on Lita's face to grow in size.

"I said your slow," Lita repeated. "Sloppy, too. Couldn't hit the broad side of a barn!"

A wordless cry of rage erupted from Rebecca, and she threw herself at Lita with reckless abandon, her speed climbing through the roof, but her telegraphing increasing. With a quick chuckle, Lita began to dodge again, her movements forming a circular pattern as the temperature of the air around her began to drop.

Rebecca continued her attacks, pressing what she considered to be her advantage. Strikes were mixed with blasts from her ki-glove, adding to the destruction around the two, and every time that Lita thought Rebecca's anger might be starting to fade, she would throw another insult her way, keeping the circular pattern of her movements going.

So it was that Lita's last breath came out in a fog, her ki temperature at a perfect zero degrees while Rebecca's own was burning as hot as lava. Lita planted her feet and threw her fist forward with a cry.

"Hyriu Shoten Ha Horizontal!"

Rebecca's eyes went wide as a real life twister came flying at her from Lita's outstretched fist, slamming into her with incredible force as it drained every last bit of heat from her ki. She was propelled down the hall in a long drawn arc, slamming back down onto the deck hard enough to knock her out as her body slid another 20 feed before coming to a stop.

Lita stood, let out a deep breath to regulate her temperature again, and walked down the hall to finally reach Rebecca's side. Kneeling beside her opponent's unconscious form, she assessed her to be in stable condition and removed her weapons, shield generator and (once she'd found the shutdown switch) ki-glove. Then she stood and tapped her com badge.

"Computer, beam the hostile in front of me to the maximum security brig and activate the forcefield."

There was a chirp, and Rebecca's unconscious body was beamed away. With a quick intake of breath, Lita turned and made her way back to the 'bridge'.

* * *

Ranma could swear that time slowed to a crawl as Mousse brought up the image of the incoming ships on the viewer. Would it be a cavalry for them? Or was it aide for the Leviathan that was warping in under sensor cloak? He swallowed as he thought about the implications of the inability to scan them, realizing that it was more than likely the latter. Not that he would think even for a second that the Leviathan was a match for his beautiful starship, but with the odds going that far against them, it would be foolish to think that coming out the other side of this alive was going to be the walk in the park he originally thought.

The viewscreen flickered, and the two incoming ships were instantly two pinmarks in the distance making their way into the system.

"Magnify," Ranma instructed.

The image leapt forward with a sweep of rapid clicks, and two Sovereign-class Starships filled the screen. Curiosity the better part of his current thought process, Ranma tilted his head to the side.

"Mousse," he inquired slowly. "Why can't we scan them? Those're only Sovereign-class."

"Sheffield to Wildstar," the com came to life at Shampoo's empty console before Mousse could reply to Ranma's question. "Those ships are NOT your average Sovereign-class, and I can guarantee it. Starfleet Intelligence is not in the business of applying sensor cloaks to their vessels. Those are definitely Section 31 vessels, and they don't want us to know how strong they are."

Ranma's face fell to a scow immediately. Behind him, Lita entered the 'bridge', stepping out of instinct to the first empty post she saw, which happened to be Shampoo's post. Taking a second to familiarize herself with the temporary rig, she entered her access code and took over the station without a word. Ranma only spared her a glance out of the corner of his eye, more to assure himself that the station had an officer at it again than anything. Lita was here to help, and it seemed she was more than prepared to do so.

"Should we take the initiative then, Captain Grissom?" he asked out of respect for Grissom's probable experience in matters such as these. "Since I'm sure they already know that we know who they are?"

Ranma could almost hear Grissom shake his head negative over the com line before his actual response came.

"I don't think it's such a good idea to attack them if we don't know how they're equipped. We could be stepping into a trap."

"Not like this whole thing isn't one in the first place," Ranma grumbled. Then louder, "Commander Kino, open a channel to the lead Sovereign-class vessel."

Lita slipped into the order like it was the most natural thing. "Aye, Captain. Channel open."

"This is Captain Saotome of the Starship Wildstar to the approaching Sovereign-class vessels. Identify yourselves."

Goku smirked at the 'no questions just do it' tone in Ranma's voice. It was a tone that clearly stated his intent to just outright attack the ships if they did not answer. Given their current situation, Goku couldn't blame his captain for the shoot-first-ask-questions-later mentality one little bit.

A second passed in silence before a male voice echoed over the com system in reply.

"Well since you asked so politely, I suppose I'm obligated to respond, aren't I?"

Ranma snarled audibly in reply to the sarcasm, merely waiting while the viewscreen flipped over to the responding ship. What appeared was a man in his thirties, clean shaven and with short yet messy dark hair sitting in what was obviously a captain's chair, but to a totally unfamiliar bridge design.

"Captain Saotome," the male drolled casually on the viewscreen, crossing his legs in the chair and fidgeting with an isolenear chip in his right hand, his left sitting idly in his lap. "You're quite a ways from where you're supposed to be. I had Starfleet send you to Risa, not all the way out to Deep Space 3."

"Well I tend to get a little lost when it comes to the old man's directions," Ranma chuckled darkly. At that moment, the viewscreen split down the middle to accommodate another image. This was the same bridge design as what he saw behind the male, but with a female in the captain's chair, her long dark hair tied back into a tail behind her.

"Booth, there's no need to chide him like this. We came here with a specific purpose in mind, and I suggest that we proceed without further delay. To do any different would be like pulling the wings off a predominantly avionic insect just to torture it before its demise."

On the other screen, the male (Booth, Ranma made a note) rolled his eyes at his accomplice in what was obviously affectionate annoyance, the hint of a smile playing at the corners of his mouth making Ranma's anger spike unnaturally high. _Insect???_

"Oh come on, _Temperance_," Booth replied. "Don't you think you should take some advice from your first name and exercise a little restraint? Besides, come on Bones, this is the fun part."

"FUN PART??!" Ranma hollered in pure unadulterated rage. Goku turned to observe his captain again, having never seen Ranma truly get angry. It was a sight to behold as the pigtailed martial artist's eyes converged into cat-like slits, the copper-blues fading hue between their natural color and a yellow-gold of a cat's eye. He only caught the briefest glimpse of it, Ranma's aura strength becoming almost a bitter taste in the back of his throat before the young man managed to dampen down his rage and keep the control he so badly needed right now. Goku hadn't realized it at first, but the shaking of the deck beneath his feet had been his captain's aura, for once not caused by weapons fire from the Leviathan (which was obviously now waiting for its superior's authorization to continue the attack). He instinctively took a single step back, not wanting his own aura to mingle with Ranma's, uncertain whether or not they would react to each other and cause severe damage to the inside of the ship.

"The Fun part??" Ranma continued, teeth clenched hard together and fists balled painfully tight and raised to waist level. As he fought to remain in control of himself thru his anger, his energy shone thru his eyes, turning them white-hot and completely blocking his retinas and corneas from sight of the two on the viewscreen, who had immediately taken to shutting up and now stared blankly at what was happening to the captain of their prey. "How Fucking DARE YOU!!! There are over TWO THOUSAND PEOPLE on this ship, and you'd laugh about throwing their lives away as casually as you'd rip the wings off a fucking butterfly?? You both make me sick to my stomach!! Close the channel, I don't even want to talk to these fucking Neanderthals!!!"

* * *

"The Crossroads and the Nevandeer," House mused. "funny, I don't think our own bosses trust us to finish the job. Not a lot of faith there, wouldn't you agree, mon capitan?"

"Pfff," Will chuckled. "Shut up, House. If they came, it's because this is important. Like I can't handle a stupid Cutter class on my own."

House pointed at the viewer, his face betraying none of the sarcasm he was just dripping with. "Well, THEY sure seem to have tons of faith in you, don't they? Not an asshole thing to do on their part at all."

Will just stared at the viewscreen. He knew how much fun his superiors liked to have with their prey before squashing them, and he was more than certain that it would be a very messy squash indeed. While the Crossroads and the Nevandeer appeared to be standard Sovereign class starships, they were heavily modified with easily twice the original arsenal, some experimental weaponry, and regenerative shielding.

"Your orders, Captain?" Spike asked from the helm. He was getting restless doing nothing, whereas before he was having the time of his life. Now that they weren't in the process of blowing anything up, he found himself twiddling his thumbs much more than he cared for.

"Hold your position until we hear from Admiral Booth," Will replied in monotone, his face scrunching up slightly as he tried to grasp something that was just beyond his reach. His face stayed like this as he turned and walked back over to his chair, sitting down in it and crossing one leg over the other. He turned his head and leaned his chin against his closed fist, deep in thought.

House regarded Will from his chair, turning his head to the side a little in a futile attempt to decipher what was bothering his captain. Finally, he just gave up and did the only thing that came naturally to him: be ridiculously straight forward and ask.

"Something troubling you?"

Will didn't answer for a moment. His mind was too occupied flying over blueprints that he hoped he had properly memorized. As this was the case, it took him a few seconds to lift his head a little from his fist and answer his first officer.

"I feel like I'm forgetting something," he said quietly in reply. "The bad part is, I'm pretty sure it was something pretty damned important."

Just as he finished his sentence, the two sovereign class on the screen swooped in on the Wildstar and began to open fire. Will quickly straightened himself in his seat. It was time to get back to work.

"Helm, attack pattern victor seven. All weapons lock onto the Sheffield. Let's keep her off Admiral Booth's ships."

* * *

Vegeta came storming into 'sickbay', still dragging the unconscious Steven behind him. He walked to the nearest empty bio bed and swung the commander onto it like he was a sack of potatoes, then turned to the nearest nurse and grabbed her arm to get her attention.

"Make sure that man stays unconscious," he growled before releasing her arm, turning about and walking back out of the holodeck. As he began to pass through the doors the ship bucked under his feet again, forcing him to reach out and grab the arch of the doorway for support. With a snarl on his lips, he jumped up a foot, hovering in the air as he looked back and forth down the hallway.

"Nuts to this bullshit," he spat, then raised his voice as loud as he could holler. "MAKE A HOLE, PEOPLE, OR I'LL RUN YOU OVER!!!!"

That done, he shot down the corridor on his return to main engineering.

Back inside the holodeck, the nurse Vegeta had cornered shook her head as she looked at Commander Stoltz lying unconscious. She came to the conclusion that he would be fine for now, and turned to her more important patients.

Not two seconds after she had walked away, Steven's right hand twitched.

* * *

The 'Bridge' shook under Ranma's feet, the Crossroads and the Nevandeer apparently switching straight into attack mode now that they had been hung up on. Ranma had taken a moment to count to ten a few thousand times in his head, and now felt reasonably back in control of his temper (though he was certain it was barely reigned in, if anything).

"Ryouga, defensive pattern Geneva 2. Full impulse."

Ryouga swung his seat to one side of his console, punching in a few commands, then moved back over a little and floored the throttle control, bringing the ship up to maximum impulse. He grinned at his accomplishment. He knew he'd get the hang of this eventually.

"Mousse, fire all phasers. Target the leading sovereign class and get her weapons offline. Lita, status on the countermeasures?"

Mousse responded with an affirmative and set to work as Lita looked up to Ranma.

"Ready to rock," she answered. Ranma nodded once in return, signaling his desire to deploy them immediately. It was at this instant that the whole ship rocked hard to one side, throwing everyone to the floor.

In space, pieces of debris floated off the starboard side of the Wildstar's primary hull, several bodies strewn here and there about the wreckage of what used to be the aft side of the ship's primary phaser bank.

* * *

Grissom stared at the viewscreen with his jaw dropped, even as the Leviathan bore down on his ship. The Crossroads may as well have just opened the maw of Satan himself as far as he was concerned. Whatever the weapon was that they used, it went right through the Wildstar's shields like they weren't even there, blowing a hole through the starboard aft quarter of the Cutter class's primary hull.

"Oh My God," he breathed out.

* * *

"WHAT THE FUCK WAS THAT?" Goku hollered as he got back to his feet.

"Major hull breach!" Lita responded, her hands flying wildly over the ops panel. "Primary hull ruptured. It's a through and through. We have bodies outside the ship."

"Are our shields even up?!" Ryouga looked as disbelieving at what had just occurred as Ranma felt, who was getting to his feet with a grumble. If what Commander Kino had just told him was true, then their new company had the capability to blow his ship away one gaping hole at a time."

"Primary phaser bank will not respond," Mousse informed him. "Switching primary to dorsal secondary."

Ranma looked over to Goku, who caught his captain's gaze with a furrowed brow and shook his head once from side to side. Ranma took a deep breath, knowing that Goku's thoughts were following his own. There was no way in hell that they could win this fight. The odds seemed stacked in Section 31's favor now.

Ranma knew it was time. His mind screamed at him to give the order, even as he fought against it with the reasoning that they could still at least TRY to inflict some damage before going out with a bang. His own words from a month prior returned to haunt his decision making abilities.

_'So everyone knows, I'll be considering this a kamikaze solution at best. Don't count on me issuing this order. Ever.'_

"Commander Kino," Ranma called, his eyes not yet leaving Goku's. "What are the odds that we'll be able to do a damn worth of damage to those two sovereign class before they take us out?"

Lita punched in some calculations and ran a quick simulation. A few seconds drifted by in silence before a red light blinked on from her console, shining off her face like a sign from Hell. Her frame slouched a little in mild disbelief at how quickly the simulation had ended before she looked back up to Ranma and shook her head.

"Pretty much zilch I'm afraid," she breathed in silent surrender.

Ranma's facial features hardened and for a moment, all eyes on the bridge were on him. He turned to the 'viewer' beside him, giving the titan hybrids on the screen one more hard stare.

"I had hoped it wouldn't ever come to this."

"Captain," Goku seemed to be pressing at him to give the order, knowing that the next shot either the Crossroads or the Nevandeer took at them could go right through their makeshift 'bridge', and then it would be all over. Ranma sighed in resignation to what he knew he had to do.

"Hail the Sheffield," he instructed Lita. "Tell them to get the fuck out of dodge."

Ranma reached down to his left and punched an intercom switch as Lita informed the Sheffield to clear the area, even though she wasn't quite sure why she was doing it.

"All hands, this is the captain speaking…" he trailed off as he looked back at the viewer. It all came down to this moment for him. His ship was battered and beaten, and certainly no longer a match for their opponents. So it was with a sense of sadness for what he was about to do to his pride and joy that Ranma breathed out the one word he swore to his crew he never would. It slipped from his lips like the breath of God coming down from the heavens.

"Wildfire."

* * *

**EOC Notes:** Dear God, it's been ages... I took a yearlong sabbatical on all my stories when my brain turned to mush sometime in early 2009. I've recently done a pile of reading, creative writing and the like, however, and after pouring over a few of my favorites again, I feel I'm back in the saddle enough to keep this going!

Now I know at the end of the last chapter, I said this one only had one more chapter left, but it would just be on hell of a rushed finish, so lets do it right, shall we? here'll be one or two (maybe three) more for the finalization of this mission. After that..... Who friekin knows what this ship's gunna go get tangled in next??!

Stay tuned for the next installment coming out absolutely ASAP. Same Matt Time... Same Matt Channel!

MattSaotome


	21. M2 Chapter 11: Wildfire

**WILDSTAR**

**By Matt Saotome**

Disclaimer: I make $12 an hour to live my life somewhat comfortably. If I owned Ranma ½, Dragonball Z, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, X-Men, Sailor Moon, CSI, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, House or any of the herein otherwise interweaved mess of shows, I would most certainly be living extremely comfortably somewhere in Japan in a quite unrepressed carefree manner. So, seeing as how I'm not doing that last part… I guess I don't own them, do I?

Note: This is the beginning of the end. What you thought you knew throughout the total duration of this story will now be tested, and all will be made clear. Pffft! If I have any sanity left after the end of this, it will be a MIRACLE!

On With Ze Shew!

* * *

Mission 2 Chapter 11

"Wildfire"

_Wildfire….._

The word continued to echo through Steven's mind as consciousness slowly drifted back to him. He knew that it was important, even though he didn't understand at first exactly what had caused it to appear in his subconscious. Then he heard the murmuring of the crewmembers around him, and everything fell into place with a terrifying click.

He snapped his eyes open.

_Wildfire!! Shit!!!_

Without a second thought, he shot up in the bed, throwing his feet over the edge and standing as fast as he could. He ignored the swimming of his brain in his cranium, telling himself over and over that he had to regain his senses or this would all end _very_ badly for himself and his comrades.

He ignored the nurse that started coming towards him with a hypospray, forcing his head to clear and give him back his balance if only for a moment. A moment was all he needed.

"Computer, Arch!" He called out, leaping back over the biobed to avoid being injected with whatever concoction the nurse had loaded into the hypo to knock him back out. As he did so, the arch materialized around the exit. The second his feet made contact with the floor again, he bolted for it like it was an oasis in the middle of some massive desert that he'd been crossing alone for days. His wild eyes bore nothing but purpose as he slammed his body against it and slapped the console in front of him, sparing not a second as he hollered into it.

"ACE TO LEVIATHAN! WILDFIRE!! CLEAR OUT, CLEAR OUT!!!!"

He couldn't get anything else out as a hypospray was pushed forcibly against the back of his neck, the hiss signaling the oncoming lack of consciousness as the world around him slowly faded away again. For the second time in the same hour, Commander Stoltz blacked out.

* * *

"They're coming around for another pass, sir," tactical informed Grissom, the viewscreen showing the Leviathan swinging around to take on the sovereign class starship again. Grissom scowled a little at the visual, keeping himself in check despite the now overwhelming odds against themselves and the Wildstar.

"Ops, deploy countermeasures," he ordered, coming up behind the helm station. "Change course on my next mark. Come about to 049 mark 26. Full impulse. Z minus 200 meters, then swing us around to 229 mark 76 and match forward pitch with their ventral axis."

"Aye, Captain," the helm officer responded.

"Tactical, stand by all weapons," Grissom continued to instruct. "Once we've completed our maneuver, lay into the underside of the Leviathan with everything you've got. Try to take out her primary navigation and sensor arrays. If we can get her to stand still, then maybe we can come out of this alive."

"Yes, sir," came the reply.

"Countermeasures deployed, sir," Ops informed him, just as the Leviathan entered weapons range again. "Active scanning is fully functional. The second she uses her plasma cannon's targeting sensors, they'll get a lock on the signature and move to intercept."

"Thank you, Commander," Grissom replied, moving to his seat. He sat heavily, took in a deep breath and watched the Leviathan on the viewscreen as it closed the gap a little more.

"Detecting plasma weapons lock!" Tactical frantically informed him. Now was the test of weather or not the countermeasures were effective.

"Mark!" Grissom signaled. Everyone set to work carrying out his last instructions. Grissom flipped up his chair's tactical readout. Sure enough, the probes zipped in the way, cutting off the weapon of mass destruction before it could reach the Sheffield. On the viewscreen, the first of the many probes exploded in a brilliant flash, effectively keeping the Sheffield from harm. Three more followed in rapid succession as the Leviathan continued its attempts to hit his ship. Grissom allowed a small grin to spread across his face as his ship dipped below the Leviathan's trajectory, turned about and pointed directly at her underside.

Tactical's fingers flew over the panel, laying into the ventral shielding of the dreadnaught with everything he had, as instructed. A few seconds went by, and the Leviathan had coasted past them, slamming on the throttle to put some distance between them. Tactical swore under his breath, passing on the information on the outcome of his assault.

"Not as much as we'd hoped, Captain," he shook his head. "Knocked her ventral shielding down about 15%, but other than that… I'm afraid none of it got through to her navigational systems."

Grissom pursed his lips together. It sounded discouraging, but 15% was still a significant amount. All he needed to do now was hold this all together and keep assaulting the leviathan's ventral shielding. Of course, this was easier said than done.

"Captain, I'm getting a transmission from the Wildstar, printout only," Tactical reported. "It's Commander Kino, sir. She says that Captain Saotome wants us to clear the area."

Grissom scowled again. Clear the area? What the hell for? That would leave the Wildstar outnumbered three to one. His mind was moving light years per second, trying to figure out what Ranma had in mind. It would be suicide on the young captain's part to leave himself so heavily outnumbered, so logic dictated that there had to be motivation behind his decision. If only he knew what that was.

"Now there's more," Tactical continued. His face scrunched up a little in confusion. There was only one word flashing at him on the display. Big red letters that must have signified some kind of a warning, but he couldn't understand it. He lifted his head to look at his captain, the confusion still spread across his face.

"Widfire?"

Grissom's eyes bugged near twice their size, and he flew out of his chair for the helm station, coming right up beside the officer there to the point where he may as well be breathing down his neck.

"Get us the hell out of here!" he nearly barked. "Any direction! Maximum warp!"

"Any direction?" his helm officer confirmed, seeming to be just as confused as Grissom's tactical officer was.

"NOW!" Grissom hollered, letting his cool slip for just an instant. It was enough, however, to convince the helm officer that his captain was quite serious. He quickly dug up the star charts, tapped his finger on a random location in the adjoining sector and punched the ship to maximum warp without a second thought.

* * *

"Fire again," Will instructed his tactical officer. It was a little frustrating to him to see his plasma cannon's effectiveness reduced to practical worthlessness by nothing but a few probes. His logic seemed to favor the repeated attempts approach, hoping that one of these times the little bastards would fail to intercept their lock in time and he'd be able to blow the Sheffield out of the water.

It was not to be so, however, as the probes once again zipped in front of their targeting sensors, the swarm of them always seeming to stay between the Sheffield and the Leviathan.

Will was ticked. That little maneuver that Grissom pulled after his last swing around had left his ventral shielding at a whopping 68%, since they had already taken some abuse before the Crossroads and the Nevandeer had made the scene.

He growled a little when another one of the Sheffield's probes was blown into space dust in the most overcompensated manner he could possibly imagine. Just as he was about to instruct his tactical officer to switch to conventional weapons, however, the Sheffield suddenly straightened herself and launched into warp.

It took Will a second to register this completely, his left eyebrow slowly drifting upwards. Grissom was nowhere near out of the fight. His shields were still in the green, and he had plenty of weapons left to chuck at them. It didn't make any sense for the experienced captain to turn tail and run, unless he was trying to draw the Leviathan from the field of battle; but to Will, even that didn't make any tactical sense. They would be nullifying the possibility of the Wildstar coming to their aide if they were suddenly put into a tight spot.

"What the hell… is he doing…?"

It was at that exact second that the com system came to life.

"ACE TO LEVIATHAN! WILDFIRE!! CLEAR OUT, CLEAR OUT!!!!"

"Shit!" Will catapulted back to his command chair. "Spike, get us the fuck out of here! Maximum warp! Riker, signal the Crossroads and Nevandeer, tell them –"

"Massive energy spike coming from the Wildstar," Tactical interrupted him. "I think she's about to –"

He didn't get to finish his sentence either. The viewscreen flared white hot, and the last thing Will remembered was the sound of the hull screeching in his ears before the entire ship was slammed hard, throwing everyone to the deck. Blackness quickly claimed the captain of the Leviathan as he slipped into unconsciousness, the sounds of red alert shorting out as his ship died around him.

* * *

"Wildfire charging!" Dana called out over the growing sounds of power surging through the ship. "Discharge in ten seconds!"

Goku hit the com panel, his eyes not leaving the viewscreen.

"GENERAL QUARTERS, THIS IS A MAJOR LOCKDOWN! ANY OFFICERS ON THEIR FEET, HIT THE DECK IMMEDIATELY! REPEAT, ALL HANDS, HIT THE DECK!"

Everyone on the bridge quickly brought themselves to the deck plating, knowing that if they didn't they would end up there in a much more painful fashion anyways. Though none of them had been through this procedure before, it was a well known fact that anything packing as much wallop as the Wildfire scenario was bound to have one hell of a recoil.

Ryouga tucked himself under his makeshift helm console, quickly assuming the fetal position as dozens of possible bad endings played through his mind. Dana memorized the countdown's position before slipping out of her chair and onto the deck, hanging onto the mounts for her console. Lita, Mina and Mousse quickly followed suit, leaving Goku and Ranma standing. The two of them looked to each other for a brief moment before crouching down to the deck and holding onto whatever they could find for support. From her position on the floor, Dana counted down the rest of the timer.

"FIVE… FOUR… THREE… TWO… BRACE YOURSELVES!"

There was a tremendous echo off the hull around them, like the sonar ping off a 20th century submarine, followed instantaneously by an incredible jolt that threw any equipment on the surfaces around them to the deck. Tall standing heavy machinery tipped over, impacting with resounding clangs and smashes. The viewscreen fizzled and exploded, and half the panels around them shorted out and went dark, two or three of them blowing their sides out and beginning to shower sparks.

With every sound of destruction, Ranma seemed to cringe a little more. The noises themselves didn't frighten him, but instead brought on wave after wave of sympathy for his ship and pangs of worry about how the rest of his crew was faring.

Out in space, the Wildstar seemed to glow blue for an instant as the anti-proton burst surged to the shield generators. A massive wave of raw negative energy exploded from the ship, extending outwards like a tidal wave of destructive power. It swept over the Crossroads and the Nevandeer first, the wave washing over their shields and causing them to surge to their limits. Just as it seemed the shields would hold through the wave, they failed at the tail end of it, the dwindling energy of the blast still powerful enough to fry everything abut the two hybrid mega cruisers. All lights and indications of power fell dark on the two vessels, the nacelle vents of both spewing unnaturally green smoke.

The Leviathan was next, suffering much the same fate as the two Sovereign class hybrids. While her shields were lower, her hull integrity and overall structural security was better than that of the two smaller starships. When her shields failed, the blast burned hot and heavy against her hull, charring it severely and even managing to take two of the dreadnaught's upper nacelle braces out, the engines drifting uselessly away from the wrecked vessel as she went completely dark.

Two light years away, the blast fizzled out into nothingness, and it was all over. Elapsed time from the order to initiate: 30 seconds.

* * *

_Captain's Log, Stardate 60011.5_

_The Sheffield has arrived back on the scene, bringing with them both the Enterprise and the Eridanus to begin collecting the Wildstar's crew. I've been informed that Starfleet has also dispatched three security transports to arrest the members of the three enemy vessels, until Starfleet Command decides exactly what they're going to do about this mess. Since the Wildfire was visible from four sectors around, it'll be somewhat difficult to deny that anything happened. I think Section 31 has finally been completely exposed, and I find myself hoping with all that I am that this is the last we'll ever see or hear of them in the future._

_I can't help but feel sad, looking around at the destruction caused by all that's happened. The Wildstar's a tough ship, to be sure, but I'm certain it'll be at least a couple of months before she's space worthy once more. The crew performed admirably to the highest possible degree, and while I'm pleased to say that there were no fatalities from the Wildfire blast… 56 men and women lost their lives today to the boarding parties and the damage to the ship. Let the record show that they died defending this ship and her crew against incredible opposition, and that I intend to award each of the deceased with the Blue Star of Valor… Starfleet's highest honor… May they rest in peace._

"Captain Saotome," a deep, accented voice called to him as he closed his log. His eyes passed over the remains of sickbay around him, charred stations and destroyed equipment littering the floor everywhere. He sighed again, the sadness of it all still seeming to remain with him. He knew it would be a good while before it left him in peace. He also knew he would never forget the lives that were lost. It was his barely bearable responsibility as Captain; the unspoken law. The fallen would never be forgotten. Sad copper blue eyes lifted slowly to look at the bald man approaching him.

"Captain Picard," he acknowledged quietly, his gaze falling to the padd in his hands which he had just recorded his log entry on. "How long have you been standing there?"

The Enterprise's captain gave no reply, choosing instead to place a hand on Ranma's shoulder in a few moments of silence. Jean Luc took a look around them as well, only being able to vaguely imagine the hell this ship and crew must have just gone thru. He finally turned his sympathetic eyes back to Ranma.

"She'll fly again, Captain," he spoke quietly. "And the brave men and women who gave their lives to defend her will not have died in vain."

"I won't let them," Ranma whispered quietly. "Too many people… All of Deep Space 3, just for seeing the Leviathan's launch… 56 of my people, just because I blabbed the words 'Section 31' to an overgrown insect over a viewscreen…"

A new thought came over Ranma, his eyes widening a little as his head lifted slightly. He turned for the first time to look Captain Picard in the eyes.

"Shampoo?" he asked in a worried tone. Akane had told him already of her fragile condition. If the Sheffield and Enterprise hadn't arrived when they did and taken over care of the wounded, it was most likely that Shampoo would be one of the covered corpses that littered the ship sporadically. That thought alone sent a nauseous wave through him. While he didn't particularly like her blatant advances, he certainly didn't hate the Chinese Amazon. In fact, a part of him was still holding on to the possibility that they could still become friends.

"Doctor Crusher and Doctor Tendo have stabilized her," the older captain replied. "Her wound wasn't very serious, but the residual energy from… whatever weapon was used on her… was wreaking havoc with her cardiovascular system. Luckily, they were able to isolate it's signature and purge the energy from her system."

"Thank God," Ranma breathed a sigh of relief.

Beside him, Picard smiled softly. He knew all too well what Ranma was going through. He had been there before several times. Loss was not easy to deal with, so when the good news came, you had to cling to it for all it was worth. The good news, no matter how small, would always ease the pain of the bad.

"Ready to go?" Picard asked.

"Has everyone else already left?" Ranma responded to the question with one of his own. He wouldn't leave the ship until he knew that everyone else had been tended to first. Jean Luc simply nodded at him in reply, silently telling him that it was okay to pass the responsibility on and look after himself for a little while.

Ranma took one more long look around him, burning the image into his mind so that he would never forget. Then, with one final sigh of exhaustion, he turned and nodded at Picard.

"I guess I'm as ready as I'll ever be," he breathed.

Captain Picard smiled again, reaching up to his com badge and giving it a tap.

"Picard to Enterprise," he called out. "Two to beam up."

Two swirling collections of energy embraced the two, lighting up the wrecked sickbay for a few seconds as the transporter beams snagged them, carrying them off and leaving the Wildstar empty. As his molecules were disassembled, Ranma remembered Picard's words to him.

_She'll fly again, Captain, and the brave men and women who gave their lives to defend her will not have died in vain._

Ranma smiled. This ship would be an ever present memorial to those who had fought for her. When she flew again, their memories would take to the stars with her. It was enough of a thought to let his mind finally relax. As he was whisked away, he left his ship with a parting thought.

_I'll be back for you._

_

* * *

  
_

The security transports arrived three hours later, the Enterprise and Eridanus staying in the immediate vicinity to make sure that the three disabled ships remained powerless. It turned out to be an unnecessary precaution as none of the downed vessels were able to restore power.

Booth and Temperance made a good bit of noise about being arrested, preaching promises of death to everyone that handled them. Many times over Starfleet's security were informed that they had 'no idea what they were doing', going so far as to ensure that their lives would be ended, not simply made more difficult. No one seemed to pay them any mind, however; a fact that both infuriated them, but also humored Ranma to no end.

Apparently, someone at the top ranks of the Federation had green lighted the arrest of anyone section 31 from these ships. He could just picture his old man – actually, no he couldn't. His old man was still a coward at heart. Still, someone had given the word, and it pleased him greatly to see the duo thrown into their cells aboard the security ships.

Will and his crew followed not long afterwards. To his credit, Ranma noted the fact that the Leviathan's captain remained completely silent throughout the entire ordeal. He wordlessly allowed himself to be lead to his cell, informing his crew that anyone who resisted the security personnel would find themselves on the wrong end of his phaser first chance he got.

This made Ranma raise his eyebrow. Even Will's chief of security, Rebecca, walked silently and allowed herself to be lead. Either they knew something he didn't, or they were just that confident that they would get off without so much as a slap on the wrist for their actions.

Ranma intended to ensure that they all spent the rest of their lives behind bars.

Commander Stoltz remained in the custody of the Enterprise security personnel for reasons that the pig tailed captain could only guess at. He shrugged his shoulders. It didn't really matter to him deep down. Stephen had followed his instructions, but had only succeeded in taking out officer Lyle. While it seemed heartless to think like that, Ranma was much more focused on the people in the cells, who had killed hundreds in the last 24 hours. No, Stephen wasn't anywhere near his highest priority.

The trip back to earth was both relaxing and comfortable. Ranma made it his business to mind his own business, taking to spending the majority of his time with Akane. He checked on his crew a few at a time, making sure that by the end of the trip, he would have spoken to each of them. As Captain, it was his responsibility to ensure that everyone was in good health and spirits.

Ranma was sprawled out on the couch in his guest quarters aboard the Enterprise. Not two hours earlier, a transport from earth had intercepted them, and a blubbering Admiral Tendo had swept Akane away for some 'quality family time'. Ranma couldn't help but chuckle at the look of mild distress that overcame Akane when she realized how much this incident had most likely solidified his fears for the safety of his three daughters. An empty cup of tea was on the table beside him, and the young captain was quickly approaching sleep when his door chime went off.

He nearly jumped out of his skin at the sudden sound, reality still slightly blurry around him as he rubbed the sleep from his eyes.

"Come," he called out, sitting up on the couch as the doors hissed open. Goku walked in, followed in short order by his entire senior staff. They drifted to positions around the room, making themselves comfortable or simply standing here and there about the room.

"Hey guys," Ranma yawned. "What's on your minds?"

Goku looked around at everyone in the room, noting their silence and apparent wish that he be the spokes person for the group. He smiled slightly and turned to face Ranma, taking a seat on the recliner beside the couch.

"We're all curious about the Wildstar, sir," he said. "She took a considerable amount of damage once the heads of Section 31 arrived. Vegeta has concerns that she won't be able to be recovered."

Ranma allowed a smile to drift over his features. It was nice to see everyone was concerned as they were. He had no idea that these people had become so attatched to the ship. It had only been a short time since she was launched, and honestly the crew was so random and odd-balled that he was certain most of his senior staff hated the experience. As he took a quick glance around, he noticed that everyone seemed to be waiting on his answer with baited breath. He gave a little chuckle before answering the question.

"I have it on good authority that the folks at Jupiter II are going to personally do their absolute best to make sure she flies again."

The resounding sigh of relief around him made Ranma's smile full-blown.

"So I take it you guys don't hate your jobs?" he laughed lightly. It felt good to laugh. He'd been unable to turn his thoughts from the deceased, and any help he could get in that regard was welcomed like a cool summer breeze.

Everyone spoke briefly with him, most just offering their condolences towards the fallen officers and speaking their excitement to getting back to work as soon as possible. It wasn't until everyone but Commander Goku had petered out of the room that Ranma realized Commander Kino's presence.

Goku leaned forward in his seat, his smile wavering as he handed Ranma a padd.

"Commander Shampoo regained consciousness this morning," he reported, his lowered tone telling Ranma that he was about to receive news he didn't want to hear. He took the padd from his first officer and read what was on the screen in front of him. After a moment, he lowered it slowly, his gaze faltering a little.

"She wants a transfer?" he questioned. It fell against the air as one that didn't expect to be answered. The evidence was before him of what she was requesting. Goku just nodded shortly, looking at his captain sympathetically.

"She told me that… that it was a conflict of personal interests to remain under your command. She said that if you deny her transfer request, she'll continue to serve under you as best she can, but hopes that you'll put your signature on it."

Ranma breathed out a breath of air. He didn't want Shampoo to leave. He had no romantic feelings for her, true enough, but the hope that he would be able to call her a friend someday had just been beaten to a pulp. With a sigh, he let his hand hover over the thumb print scanner on the padd for an instant. Shaking his head from side to side a little, he dropped his hand down and signed the request.

It would be pointless to order her to stay aboard if she was going to be unhappy. He hoped that she would find what she was looking for in Starfleet, and even hoped that someday, he would be able to have her serve aboard his ship again. She was an excellent officer, that was for certain. He allowed himself to admit that he would miss the Amazon Commander, handing the padd back to Goku wordlessly.

Goku took it from him, looking down at it for a brief moment before looking back up to his Captain.

"I'll let her know," he said softly.

"Now," Ranma sat up a little straighter and turned his gaze to Lita. She smiled sadly back at him, sharing his feelings for a moment at the departure of his third in command. "We didn't get a proper chance to say hello to each other, Commander."

"Hello, Sensei," Lita answered him.

"Sensei," Ranma breathed in response. "I haven't heard that in a good while."

"Pardon me," Goku interrupted, looking to Lita. "Are you telling me that Ranma here was your teacher?"

Lita nodded with a chuckle. It had been three years since Ranma had taken her under his wing, teaching her the finer points of the Anything Goes style, including a few of his own more powerful attacks. She had studied under him intensely, pushing herself to the limit and beyond with her training. She had known at the time that Starfleet Intelligence was where she wanted to be, and she wanted to make sure that she was the best candidate available.

"It's been a few years," she responded verbally. "But the short answer is yes."

"What can I do for you, Lita," Ranma smiled fondly at the memories of training the young senshi. She had started out promising and had only gone monstrously uphill from there. Her training had been both a pleasure and an honor for him as he graduated her not even one year later.

Lita looked down at her shoes, her pending request seeming much more like some kind of an evil now than it had just a few moments before. She took in a deep breath of air and looked back up at Ranma.

"I dunno if you remember or not," she began. "But once upon a time ago I told a certain teacher of mine that, if the opportunity ever presented itself, I would want to serve under his command one day."

Ranma's smile became gradually larger as he came to realize what Lita was about to request. He certainly had no intentions of turning her down. In the time that he was training her, she had become so much like a sister to him. He had enjoyed teaching her, and had also shard the same hope that they would be able to serve together one day.

"You do realize that the position comes with a downgrade on the chain of command, right?"

"Actually, Captain…"

Ranma turned to face Goku after he spoke, a nearly adorable blank yet curious expression on his face.

"I believe I may have the solution to that."

* * *

Author's Note: The final installment of this mission should be up within the next few days. Yes, that's right, the epilogue is just round the corner! God, I can't believe how long I left this alone. Anyways, your reviews would be greatly appreciated. After a year, it's nice to know whether or not people still give a crap about this story.

So yeah.

REVIEW!!!!!

Please?

Matt Saotome


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